Half-Blood Hero
by Vaelliance
Summary: Alfred is a half-vampire living with the pureblood vampire Arthur who had raised him from infancy. As Alfred discovers more about himself, he finds that his feelings for Arthur is changing but that he's growing more and more distant from him. UsUK
1. Chapter 1: First Half

_A/N: There will be two parts of this story: the First Half and the Second Half. To avoid spoilers, I'll explain why I separated this story into two by the time we reach the end of the First Half. Although I expect that at that time, you'll probably already know why it's divided. Enjoy!_

_This is UsUK_

* * *

_London, 1995_

_Arthur walked towards the house just up ahead, the living room lit up, indicating that Francis was most probably still awake. He just prayed that the Frenchman was not feeding, because it's a sight he'd rather not see at the moment, what with his condition and all._

_ He stopped in front of the front doors and shifted the position of the infant in his arms securely to raise one of his hands and knock. He waited for a few seconds and heard the sound of footsteps against tiled floors from the inside, before the door was unlocked, and was opened, revealing Francis._

_ Francis' blue eyes widened a little in surprise to see Arthur at his doorstep so late at night, with streaks of dried blood along his chin, and stains of it across the neck of his suit. Then his eyes drifted down to the sleeping infant in his arms, and his eyes widened some more, flickering back up at Arthur with confusion. "What is that in your arms?"_

_ Arthur remained blank in expression, just looking at Francis with empty green eyes. "I'll explain later. Just let me come in first. You're not in the middle of feeding, are you?" His face twisted a little in disgust at that, but it was gone as soon as Francis shook his head._

_ Francis stepped aside to let Arthur in, and closed and locked the door once he's inside. They both headed towards the living room, and Arthur gently put the infant down on the couch. He straightened up when he'd settled the baby, and turned to Francis. "Can you give me a change of clothing? I feel absolutely filthy. I think I'm going to shower."_

_ The Frenchman looked like he wanted to have an explanation first but he nodded his head and started heading for the stairs to his bedroom. "I'll place a change of clothing in the shower."_

_ "Thanks." Arthur headed for the bathroom and had his shower._

_ Fifteen minutes later, he came out looking fresh in a white dress shirt with three buttons unbuttoned, revealing a little bit of the pale skin of his chest, paired with black trousers, a towel around his neck. He found Francis seated cross-legged on a single couch adjacent to the one he'd placed the infant on, and was looking at it rather curiously, as if he'd never seen one so closely before. Arthur rolled his eyes and sat on the couch, right beside the infant, glancing at it briefly as he rubbed the towel to his hair._

_ "So…" Francis started, not taking his eyes off the small sleeping form. "This… what is this?"_

_ "A baby, Francis. What else could it possibly be?" Arthur deadpanned._

_ Francis pouted at the Brit. "You know what I mean." Then his eyes widened and a smirk came to his lips. "Don't tell me you accidentally got someone pregnant."_

_ Arthur wrinkled his nose. "I'm not like you, Francis."_

_ "Hey!"_

_ Arthur sighed, and looked down at the infant. He raised a hand and gently caressed the baby's cheek. His expression had now gone blank again. "He's Adam's son."_

_ Francis eyes widened again. "Oh." He breathed. "Oh. With… with that human?"_

_ Arthur retracted his hand and went back to rubbing his hair. "Yes. Adam's dead. And so is Martha. So I took him with me so he won't end up with those hunters." He spat out the last word as if just saying it gave his mouth a bitter taste._

_ "Dead?" Francis repeated, stunned._

_ The Brit only looked at him, indescribable emotions in his eyes. Francis didn't press for an answer and Arthur's grateful for that._

_ "But this…" Francis gestured to the infant. "This is a half-blood. Wouldn't it be better to just give him to the hunters after all?"_

_ Arthur shook his head. "No, Francis. He's Adam's child. I can't let those humans have him."_

_ "Do you even know how to raise a child?"_

_ Arthur shrugged. "You'll help me."_

_ "But he's a half-blood!" Francis cried incredulously. "He's part human!"_

_ "We'll just raise him like any other vampire."_

_ Francis sighed and rubbed at his temples. "Ivan's going to kill him if he finds out, you know. He'll punish us too."_

_ Arthur scoffed. "Ivan can't do much damage to the both of us. We're part of the council too. However," he paused in thought. "We have to leave this place. The hunters are here. We have to get away before they find us."_

_ Francis frowned. "And where do you suppose we go?" He lit up. "Perhaps my beautiful _la ville d'amour_?"_

_ Arthur wrinkled his nose in disgust. "No, I don't want to be surrounded by frogs."_

_ The Frenchman rolled his eyes. "Then where do we go?"_

_ "Somewhere far and safe where the hunters and Ivan won't find us." Arthur thought for a moment before his eyes widened with an idea. "America."_

_ "_Amérique_?"_

_ "America." Arthur confirmed with a nod. "There's not a lot of vampires there, we don't even have a council representative from that place. There's little chance that we'll meet someone who knows us who would inform Ivan of our movements, so Ivan will only have information on us directly from us. And with no other source of information, the hunters won't find us there too. It's the perfect place."_

_ Francis sighed. "Must we leave?"_

_ "As soon as possible." Arthur replied, looking at the infant._

_ Francis also looked at the infant and tilted his head to the side. "What is his name? He does have one, _oui_?"_

_ Arthur also tilted his head in thought, before reaching out to the infant and caressing its cheek again. "Alfred."_

* * *

_Toronto, 2012 Winter_

Alfred pulled his signature bomber jacket on, and turned to face Arthur, who was looking at him from head to toe. He grinned when Arthur's gaze returned to his eyes and mock-saluted. "I'm going now, Artie! See you later!"

Arthur made a half-hearted shooing gesture with his hand. "See you later, love."

Alfred hesitated for a second, wondering if he should ask for a kiss on the forehead. It's something that Arthur had always done when he was a child, but it stopped somehow, and Alfred wanted for that habit to return. But he always got too scared to ask and just turns to leave, feeling disappointed. Like now.

He sighed to himself as he walked towards the school, berating himself for being cowardly. It's not like Arthur would be angry at him to ask for such a thing. Maybe. He shrugged and just told himself to ask tomorrow. But that's what he always told himself whenever he failed to get the courage to ask.

He whistled a tune as he continued on his way, shoving his hands inside his pockets. The walk to school took him 10 minutes in human speed, and he was relieved that he wasn't as affected to the cold as the humans were because of his vampire blood. But vampires get their blood from humans… whatever.

When he arrived at school, he went straight to his locker, greeting some friends on the way. He put his jacket inside his locker and took out his books, then went to his first class.

Some of his classmates were already there and he talked to them about the class, what they were going to do, how they were and their friends, the usual. They talked animatedly until the teacher came and opened the room and they went in.

After a few more minutes, the bell rang for first period. The teacher entered the room with a student in tow whom Alfred had never seen before. He had this long blonde hair that reached up to his shoulders and were curly at the ends, unusual pale violet eyes behind eyeglasses, pale white skin and an athletic stature.

Alfred's seatmate, Dylan, elbowed him and whispered, "Hey, is that new student a relative?"

He gave his seatmate a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"He looks just like you!" Dylan whispered-yelled.

Alfred looked at the new student again and tilted his head to the side. "Do I really look like that?"

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Yeah! Except, he looks kind of like the silent-type, while you look like you're really loud."

"Hey!" The whole class turned to look at Alfred.

"Yes, Alfred?" The teacher asked. "Do you want to show Matthew around the school?"

"Uh…" Alfred looked at the new student, who he assumed was named Matthew, and saw the guy was shyly looking down the ground. He cleared his throat then nodded. "Sure, Mrs. Johnson."

Mrs. Johnson smiled. "Excellent. You may take him around during lunch." She turned to Matthew and pointed at an empty seat just a column away from Alfred. "You can sit there, Matthew."

Matthew gave a timid nod and went to his seat, glancing at Alfred on his way.

"See?" Dylan said, making Alfred revert his gaze back to his seatmate. "You two look like twins! Are you sure you're not related?"

"Well, I'm not sure…" Alfred replied. Arthur had told him about his parents but nothing about siblings and the like. He told himself to ask Arthur that once he got home.

Mrs. Johnson called for their attention to start the class. During the whole period, Alfred couldn't take his eyes away from Matthew.

oOo

When the bell rang, Alfred bid goodbye to his friends and went to approach Matthew. Matthew was just zipping his bag closed when Alfred loudly greeted, "Hey!"

Matthew looked up at him briefly before looking down on his bag. "H- Hey."

"I'm Alfred F. Jones." Alfred stuck his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Mattie!"

Matthew looked at his hand cautiously before slowly reaching out to shake it. He quickly withdrew his hand. "N- Nice to meet y- you too. And, M- Mattie?"

Alfred wondered if Matthew thought his hand was dirty to act like so but just shrugged the thought away in a second. "Your name's too long, so I'm calling you Mattie! What class do you have next?"

"O- Oh, um…" Matthew fumbled to get his time table out from a small pocket of his bag, and spread it out. "Um… English."

"Ugh," Alfred groaned. "My worst subject. Let's go, I'm showing you to your classroom."

They exited the classroom and walked down the hallway.

"Um… You don't like English?" Matthew asked, his voice so soft that Alfred could barely heard him through all the noise of the other students along the corridor. Good thing Alfred had really sharp senses thanks to his vampire-ism, so he still heard anyway.

"Well, I guess you could say that." He replied. "Artie teaches me all these stuff about English but I just don't really get them. My best subjects are math and science. They're easy-peasy. And gym too! My favorite!"

They reached a classroom where Alfred made a stop and Matthew looked up at the room number to see that this was his class. "Oh, t- thank you."

Alfred grinned. "No problem! I'll just meet you back here again after so we can go eat lunch then I can show you around the school. Sounds good?"

Matthew nodded.

"Great! I'll see you later, Mattie!" He raised a hand in goodbye and started walking towards his own class.

oOo

When the bell rang for lunch, Alfred bolted right out of the door towards Matthew's classroom. When he reached the room, Matthew was already waiting outside, and he plastered his usual grin on as he went to him. "Hi, Mattie!"

Matthew looked up at him then to the ground. "H- Hello, Alfred."

Alfred ignored Matthew's shyness and gestured for them to start walking, and they did. "Do you have to buy lunch or do you have food with you?"

"I have food with me." Matthew replied, still so softly.

"Hey, you're lucky! I have to buy my lunch every time because Artie sucks at cooking so bad. Does your mom pack your food for you?"

Matthew shook his head. "My guardian does. My mom is… um…"

Alfred looked at Matthew, waiting for a continuation. But it looked like Matthew wasn't going to finish his sentence so he just shrugged. "It doesn't matter, don't worry about it! I don't have my parents anymore so I'm with Artie. He's the one who took care of me since I was a baby. He's kind of like my dad. Well, more like a mom, actually."

Matthew looked up at him, a little taken aback, before he gave a small sad smile. "I'm sorry about your parents. I actually… don't have my parents anymore as well." He went back to looking at the ground.

Alfred smiled, pleased that Matthew was at least responding to him. "Hey, we're the same! How awesome would it be if we're actually long lost brothers?" He laughed. "My friend told me we look just like one another!"

Matthew raised his gaze to him and stared at him, his head tilted a little on the side. "I'm not sure…"

"I know, right? We should go check out a mirror or something."

They arrived in the cafeteria and Alfred led Matthew to a table where three other guys were already sitting. "Hey guys!" He greeted. The three looked up at them. "This is Matthew, he's new! Hey, that rhymes!"

Kiku, a Japanese descent, tilted his head as he looked at Alfred and Matthew. "Is he your brother, Alfred-kun?"

"Whoa, do we really look that much alike?"

"Ve, you look like you're twins! Like, Lovi and me!" Feliciano, an Italian, said.

Alfred and Matthew took a seat with Ludwig, the German, staring at them. "The two of you could be brothers separated at birth."

"That's what I said." Alfred retorted. "But as far as I know, I don't have a brother. Well, I still have to ask Artie about that." He turned to Matthew. "What do you think, Matt? You think we're long lost brothers or something?"

Matthew looked down on the table, embarrassed with all the attention he was getting from the four. "W- Well, my brother is… my brother… with parents…"

Alfred realized what Matthew was trying to say and interrupted. "Oh! Sorry about that, Matt." He turned to the others who looked confused, and changed the subject. "So, what do you guys have for lunch?"

The others went along with him and replied, "Wurst." "Pasta!" "Omelet with fried shrimp and salad."

Kiku pulled out another lunch box from his bag and opened it, revealing a lot of meat inside that made Alfred's mouth water. The Japanese handed it to Alfred with pink dusting his cheeks. "Um… Alfred-san, if you don't mind, I made you some lunch too."

Alfred brightened up and beamed at Kiku. "Oh, shucks, thanks man!" He took the lunch box and stared at the food hungrily. "I've always liked your cooking too, Kiku! Thank god, I don't have to eat cafeteria food today!"

"You're welcome." Kiku murmured, blushing.

They all started eating when Matthew took out his own lunch.

"Ve, Matthew, right?" Feliciano started, swallowing a forkful of pasta. "Where are you from?"

Matthew stopped eating for a moment and just stared at the table. "Oh, um… Vancouver."

"If I may ask, why did you move here?" Kiku asked.

Matthew continued staring at the table, his shoulders tensed. "Um… M- My family had p-problems there so… so we had to move away."

They all sensed that Matthew was uncomfortable with the subject so they dropped it. They told Matthew of the school events instead and compared time tables and told him about the teachers in the school.

When Alfred noticed that Matthew had finished eating, he stood up and announced, "Guys, we're leaving first. I'm gonna show Mattie around the school."

The three nodded and Feliciano waved enthusiastically. "Ve, see you later, Matthew!"

Kiku bowed politely, "It was nice meeting you, Matthew-san."

"You're welcome to eat with us again." Ludwig finished.

Matthew thanked them and the two left the cafeteria for the tour.

oOo

When the last period ended, Alfred saw Matthew by the lockers and he approached the guy cheerfully. "Mattie!"

Matthew looked up at him from the locker. He smiled a little. "Hello, Alfred."

"Are you going home now?" Alfred asked.

The other nodded. "Yes."

"Oh, where do you live?"

Matthew told him the address and Alfred thought for a little to locate the place. "Oh! That's like, thirty minutes away from here, isn't it? You live quiet far. I live only ten minutes away and I always walk from home to school. Anyway, we should hang out sometime! What do you think?"

"Um…" Matthew blushed as he nodded, looking down the ground. "S- Sure."

"Great! I'll see you around, Mattie!"

"Goodbye, Alfred."

Alfred waved as he continued to walk away towards his own locker.

oOo

"Artie!" Alfred loudly called out as soon as he entered the house. He removed his shoes and threw his backpack on the living room couch as he looked around for Arthur.

"In here, love." Arthur called out and Alfred quickly went to the back porch that led to Arthur's well-taken-care-of rose garden.

When Alfred exited the door to the back porch, he found Arthur seated on one of the single couches surrounding a small table that had tea and biscuits on it. The Brit didn't even look up from his embroidery as Alfred heavily sat on a single couch opposite his. "Tea?"

"Nah." Alfred replied, looking at the biscuits. He'd stopped drinking tea when he reached his early teens, as he found that tea did not suit his tastes anymore. "Did you make these biscuits, Artie?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, still focusing on his embroidery. "No. Francis made them." Alfred happily took some biscuits and ate. "How was school?"

"Nnn Nnnggh!" Alfred exclaimed inaudibly, mouth filled with food.

Arthur did look up at him then to frown. "Alfred, don't speak with your mouth full." He chided then went back to his embroidery.

Alfred chewed and swallowed then started, "Yeah, so we had a new student in math today and guess what? He looks just like me!" Arthur's hands froze from their movements and he looked up at Alfred with wide green eyes. "His name is Matthew- I forgot to ask for his last name- and everyone were telling us that we look like twins! I wanted to ask you about that, actually."

"What?" Arthur breathed out, eyes still wide.

Alfred hesitated for a bit, fiddling with his hands. He'd noticed that Arthur didn't like talking about Alfred's family, so he was hesitant to bring it up. He didn't even know the whole story of his parents' death yet because Arthur had always gotten upset when he brought it up. But he had to at least know if he had a brother or any other sibling. He looked up at Arthur's waiting eyes. "Do I have a brother?"

Arthur just stared at him for a second and slowly leaned back to the back of the couch. He looked like he was thinking fast before he replied, "Yes. Yes, you did have a brother."

Alfred's heart swelled with hope. So he still had a remaining family member after all and it could be Matthew.

"But, he died with your parents." Arthur finished firmly, his eyes boring into Alfred's blues that slowly filled with sadness, the hope dying. Arthur looked down to his hands. "I'm sorry, Alfred. I couldn't save him. I couldn't save them." He said, his voice going soft with grief.

They fell silent for a second as Alfred took the new information in. "But, Artie." He spoke up after a little. "A- Are you sure my brother is d- dead? I mean, Mattie really looks like me. My brother could have survived."

"No." Arthur replied, voice firm, denying further questions or arguments. He looked straight into Alfred's eyes. "I am sure, Alfred. I was there. Believe me."

"O- Oh." Alfred slumped down on his seat, eyes downcast.

Arthur stood up from the couch, putting his embroidery on the table, and headed for the door. "And we have to move away quickly. We can't stay here anymore."

"Wait, what?!" Alfred snapped his head up at Arthur, who was entering the house. He shot up to his feet and followed Arthur into the house. "Wait, Artie! Why do we have to move? I didn't do anything! I don't want to move!"

"Hush, Alfred." Arthur said as he moved towards the living room. "I'm sensing danger. We can't stay here. We can't risk it."

"What danger?!" Alfred demanded. When Arthur ignored him and picked up the telephone, he grabbed Arthur's hand that held it and forced the Brit to face him. Through the years, Alfred had grown an inch or two taller than Arthur so with how close they were standing together now, Alfred was looking down at him. "You have to explain to me, Artie!"

Arthur looked at Alfred's hand that held his wrist in a tight hold then glared up at him. "I don't have to explain, Alfred. I'm telling you that we're in danger. We have to move away as soon as possible!" He tugged on his wrist but Alfred refused to let go.

"What danger?" Alfred asked again, worriedly this time. "Did something happen? What's wrong?"

"All I know is that we're in danger and we can't stay here." Arthur glared at him venomously, green eyes almost glowing. "Now let go of me so I can inform Francis and we can decide where to go." He tugged harder this time but Alfred still didn't let go of him.

"No!" Alfred exclaimed, annoyed that Arthur refused to tell him anything. He wasn't a child anymore but Arthur still treated him like one and didn't even bother to ask him of his own opinions. Arthur wanted him to just do whatever he said like in the past, but Alfred had a mind of his own now. He could make decisions too. "I don't want to move! I've finally made friends here and finally settled down after we moved here from New York, I don't wanna go through all that moving process again!"

"Alfred, listen to me-"

"Unless you tell me what's the danger, what's wrong, why we have to move away, I refuse to go! I'm not a child anymore, Arthur! I have my own opinions now too! And I know that I didn't do anything wrong so I don't know what's this danger you're talking about!"

Arthur fell silent and pulled his wrist off Alfred's hold hard. Alfred finally let go of him. "Fine." He hissed. "Fine, we won't move." He slammed the telephone down. "But you have to stay away from Matthew."

"What?!" Alfred cried incredulously. "What's this got to do with Mattie?!"

"If you don't want us to move, then you have to stay away from Matthew." Arthur said and walked back towards the back porch.

Alfred groaned loudly as he followed the Brit. "Why!" He whined. "I want to be friends with him! You can't stop me!"

"Very well, then you can't go over to his house."

"This is getting ridiculous."

"You know how I feel about humans, Alfred." Arthur ground out, obviously holding back his anger. They reached the back porch and he went over to the table and picked up a teacup and the teapot, pouring himself tea. "I never did want you to get close to them."

"I'm half-human though." Alfred reminded.

Arthur slammed the teapot down on the table. "Do not ever call yourself that. You know that I hate it. And you can't go over to his house, and that's final. Don't make me drug you and drag you to someplace else, Alfred. I'd rather not treat you harshly."

Alfred ground his teeth together to stop himself from saying anything that'll get Arthur angrier. He was hurt that Arthur still refused to acknowledge his human part. He always did. Arthur didn't even really want him to know about it. He just accidentally heard about it when Arthur and Francis were talking. For some reasons Alfred didn't know, Arthur hated humans. Francis had told him that most of the purebloods did but that Arthur had a reason more than just him being a pureblood.

"Fine." Alfred said through gritted teeth. "Whatever." He walked out of the back porch and entered the house, snatching his backpack from the living room couch and running up to his bedroom. He slammed the door loudly in anger and threw his backpack on the floor. He just breathed in and out for a few seconds, calming himself down, and when he did, he went to sit on his bed, running a hand through his blond locks, wondering: Just where did everything go wrong?

* * *

_TBC_


	2. Chapter 2

_New York, 1995_

_Arthur rocked Alfred comfortingly as the baby cried its throat dry. He also tried cooing and sweet-talking to silence him, but Alfred won't relent and just continued wailing. Arthur bit on his lower lip, wondering if he should just tear a wound on his finger and let the baby suck his blood, when he heard the front door open and he sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god!"_

_ He went downstairs and straight to the kitchen where Francis was unpacking a carton full of packets of blood, and looked up when he entered with the crying Alfred. Francis cringed. "Silence him, Arthur."_

_ "I'm trying!" The Brit scowled and continued rocking Alfred. "Hurry up and give me a bottle of blood to feed this tiny poppet, Francis!"_

_ Francis rolled his eyes. "_Oui_, _oui_." He went to the cupboards and got out a baby bottle. He, then, opened a packet of blood and poured its contents on said bottle. After emptying the packet, he put the lid of the bottle on and handed it to Arthur. "Here, hurry up and give it to him so he may shut up."_

_ Arthur took the bottle and looked at the blood in it intently. "This is fresh blood, right?"_

_ Francis rolled his eyes again. "Of course it is! Only the very best for your dear Alfred. Now hurry up and shut him up."_

_ Arthur shrugged and let Alfred drink from the bottle through the teat. That definitely shut the baby up, and drink contentedly, blue eyes looking up at Arthur. "There you go, poppet. Sorry for starving you." He told the baby gently then glared at Francis._

_ The Frenchman apparently felt the glare directed at him as he stored the packets of blood in the refrigerator. "What now?" He asked exasperatedly._

_ "It's your fault Alfred almost starved to death."_

_ "It's not!" Francis protested. "It's your fault for not telling me that you already ran out of blood!"_

_ Arthur sputtered. "Well, if you were coming over, you should have brought blood with you!"_

_ "How was I supposed to know you already ran out of blood? I don't live here!"_

_ Alfred let go of the teat to giggle and smile toothlessly, his small arms moving about excitedly. Arthur turned to him and glared, only for it to vanish quickly at the sight of baby's happy face. He couldn't help a small smile as he encouraged Alfred to continue drinking. "Oh, you little bugger, don't laugh at me!" He exclaimed teasingly. "I swear, Alfred enjoys watching or hearing us argue." He addressed to Francis._

_ Francis scoffed and straightened up as he finished storing all the packets. He turned to Arthur with both hands on the hips then tilted his head at the sight of the Brit swaying on his feet with Alfred. He snickered. "This parenting thing surprisingly suits you well, Arthur."_

_ Arthur glared at him even as he continued swaying. "Don't make me leave him to you, Francis."_

_ "You won't." Francis replied smugly._

_ "I could. I could leave him to you for a week so I can go hunt. It's been awhile since I went hunting."_

_ "I'll kill him." Francis retorted easily._

_ "And I'll kill you." Arthur returned just as easily._

_ Francis huffed and exited the kitchen to the living room, grumbling. Arthur ignored him and turned his green eyes back to Alfred, the baby's blue eyes watching him intently while sucking on his bottle. Arthur smiled and leaned down to Alfred to touch their noses together and nuzzled. He withdrew when Alfred started giggling again before going back to his drink._

_ "Don't worry, poppet. I won't leave you to Francis." He said in a gentle voice. "I won't ever leave you."_

* * *

_Toronto, 2012 Winter_

When Alfred went down to go to school the next morning, he was still sulking over what happened yesterday afternoon. He found Arthur in the kitchen, drinking his usual morning cup of tea, and he looked up when Alfred entered.

Alfred silently passed him by and went straight to the refrigerator to get himself his breakfast: a packet of fresh blood. He got a mug out from the cupboard, tore open the packet and poured it out before drinking it in one gulp.

He heard Arthur sigh. "Really, Alfred? You won't even greet me a good morning?" He asked.

Alfred pulled the mug away from his mouth and pouted at Arthur. "There's no good in my morning right now."

"Sure there is." Arthur replied, gently putting his teacup down and standing up from the stool he was sitting on, walking up to Alfred. He grabbed a tissue on his way and lightly dabbed it on Alfred's mouth as he reached him. "Alfred, you know how I am. I am so awfully overprotective of you and you know it. And you understand, of course, because you're my only family now and…" He trailed off, his hand stilling on its movements and his green eyes just staring at Alfred's blues.

Alfred sighed, feeling guilty, because he knew where Arthur was getting at and he knew that Arthur was getting upset. "I get it, Artie. But I just… I like it here now. I liked it better in New York but I know that it's my own fault that we had to move away. But I'm liking it here now so I'm really doing my best to not make the same mistakes because I want to stay here. I don't want to move away again."

Arthur pulled his hand back, looking hesitant. But he shook his head and threw the tissue on the trash bin. "I understand, Alfred. Really, I wish that I could introduce you to some of our own kind so you don't have to associate with these humans but…" He sighed. "How unfortunate that you have half of their blood. I wish there's some sort of way to remove it."

Alfred frowned, disliking the way Arthur was talking about his human side. Humans weren't as bad as Arthur made them seem and he wished there was a way for Arthur to see that. "Artie, humans aren't all that bad. If you just get to know them, you might like them too."

Arthur gave him a wry smile. "Oh Alfred, I love your innocence. But I've lived a thousand years and trust me, there's no good to see in them. In just a few hundred years, you'll realize that so let's not get into a debate about this _again_, all right? Anyway, you have to hurry along or you'll be late."

With an exasperated sigh, Alfred dropped the topic and went to the refrigerator to get another packet of blood. He took out a thermos this time and poured the blood in it then closed the lid. "I'm going to hang out with my friends after school so I'll be home late."

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked, following Alfred out of the kitchen towards the front door. He watched as Alfred pulled his jacket on and zipped it.

"Kiku's house." Alfred replied, bending down to put on his shoes.

"Alfred, I was serious when I told you not to go to Matthew's house. If you do, I'm seriously going to drag you out to another country."

Alfred rolled his eyes and straightened up, facing Arthur. "I get it. I won't stop hanging out with him though. Seriously Artie, he's like, new here and he needs friends."

Arthur crossed his arms. "And you just have to be the friend he needs." He rolled his eyes. "Take care in school, love."

"I will!" Alfred cheerfully replied then hesitated. He really, really wanted that kiss on the forehead.

Arthur seemed to have noticed his hesitance and raised a huge eyebrow at him. "What is it?"

"Uh…" Alfred could feel his heart beating against his rib cage with nervousness as he gathered up the courage to ask for it. He didn't know why he felt nervous, it's just a kiss after all. A kiss he used to get a lot in the past. He took in a deep breath, willing himself to man up and just ask for it, so he blurted it out, "Can I have a kiss?"

Arthur looked surprised hearing such a request before an amused smile slowly spread across his lips. "What?"

"W-Well, you… you know how you used to give me a k-kiss on the forehead whenever I went to school? I-I want t-that." He stammered, heat climbing to his cheeks.

Arthur smiled widely and opened up his arms. "Come here."

Alfred happily obeyed and went to Arthur. The Brit placed his hands on either side of Alfred's face, and happiness and contentment bloomed in Alfred when Arthur's lips pressed against his forehead gently. When Arthur pulled back, he was smiling warmly at Alfred, his green eyes bright.

"What's with you suddenly wanting back your goodbye kisses?" He asked.

Alfred grinned at him. "I guess I just sorta missed it, ya know?"

"Well, it's certainly nostalgic. The last time was when you first entered middle school, wasn't it?" Arthur patted his cheek before he pulled his arms away.

"I think so. Why'd you even stop giving me kisses?" Alfred wondered, head tilted curiously.

"Hm, I can't even remember." Arthur replied. "But enough with that. You should head to school now. You're going to get late."

Alfred stepped away from Arthur and slung his bag over his shoulder properly. "Then, I'm going now, Artie!" He mock-saluted. "See you later!"

"I'll see you, poppet." Arthur waved at him as he exited the house and walked to the sidewalk.

There was a bounce to Alfred's every step and he hummed a happy tune all the way to school. His day certainly started out well.

oOo

Alfred found Matthew awkwardly standing outside the classroom of their first class, and he approached him cheerfully, his usual big smile plastered on his face. "Hi, Mattie!"

Matthew looked up at him and gave him a small, shy smile. "Hello, Alfred."

"Did you do your homework?"

"Oh, yes, I did."

"Did you finish everything? Mrs. Johnson tends to give us this really long homework that's just impossible to finish in one night. What's worse is that it's an everyday thing." Alfred complained, rolling his eyes.

Matthew smiled at that. "I finished it. I admit it took a really long time but…"

"Hey, no pressure! You don't actually have to finish everything, you know. Like I said, impossible. There's only like, five students in class who takes it seriously and do them."

"But still…"

"No worries! Did you solve them all though?"

Matthew nodded. "Surprisingly I did. Admittedly, math isn't my strongest subject so…"

Alfred brightened up at an idea and grinned at Matthew. "You're not alone there, actually! Kiku also sucks pretty bad at it, so we hold this weekly tutorial thing every Friday. You can join us if you want."

Matthew's eyes widened slightly. "Really?"

"Yup! I'm sure the others wouldn't mind."

Matthew hesitated for a bit, looking thoughtful. "Well, if it's alright, then I guess I'll join you." He finally decided after a few seconds.

Alfred grinned widely at that. "Great! Let's tell the others when we meet them for lunch."

The first bell rang and everyone looked around for their teacher to open the door. Mrs. Johnson came half-running, with a mug on her hand, and went straight to the door, opening it. They went inside towards their respective seats, Alfred flashing Matthew a final grin before they took their seats and waited for the second bell.

oOo

"Hey guys!" Alfred greeted the three as he and Matthew sat down around the table.

The three greeted back at them then Kiku took out another lunch box for Alfred and offered it to him.

Alfred accepted it gratefully. "Whoa, thanks Kiku! Is this going to be a daily thing now?"

Kiku blushed and looked down the table. "Y-Yes. Maybe. I told my mother that you always eat cafeteria food so she helped me make you lunch as well. If you don't mind."

"Aw, I don't mind it at all! Remind me to thank your mom later." Alfred replied and they started eating. "Speaking of later, we're still going to your house, right?"

"Yes. I got a new game that I think you will enjoy." Kiku said then looked at Matthew. "Matthew-san, would you like to join us later?"

Matthew struggled to swallow the food in his mouth and blinked at Kiku with wide eyes. "U-um… huh?"

"We're going to Kiku's house later to play video games or whatever. You wanna come? You should come!" Alfred clarified.

"Uh… s-sure." Matthew replied softly, looking down on his food and blushing.

Alfred laughed and clapped Matthew on the back. "Dude, you don't have to be so shy! By the way, Mattie's also gonna join us on our study group."

Feliciano slurped his pasta then exclaimed, "Ve, so you're coming with us to big brother Francis' house on Friday!"

"Big brother Francis?" Matthew repeated with confusion.

"I still don't know why we keep going back to that pervert's place." Ludwig said, pulling out a napkin and wiping Feliciano's mouth with it, sighing, "Eat neatly, Feliciano."

"We go to Francis' house to study." Alfred started to explain. "He's not really Feli's older brother but Francis refuses to be called uncle, says it makes him sound old. Oh, and he's my guardian's friend. We can't really go to my house so we go to Francis' instead. And he makes really delicious food!"

"Why can't we go to your house?" Matthew asked curiously.

Alfred only shrugged at him but didn't reply. He shifted on his seat instead, looking at Matthew seriously with a finger held up. "We have to warn you a few things before we bring you to Francis' lair."

"Huh?" Matthew's eyes widened.

"Ve, big brother Francis is a pervert." Feliciano said cheerfully, as if he's talking about how cute a cat is.

"He'll try to grope you every chance that he gets." Ludwig stated, his face scrunched up, like he was recalling a memory.

Alfred laughed at that as Kiku said, "Francis-san is not that bad."

"Yeah, he's really not." Alfred agreed. "It's just that he'll probably flirt with you, Matt."

"O-oh."

"Tell him no if he asks you to go upstairs with him, all right?"

Matthew slightly paled at that. "I-I'll be sure."

Alfred laughed.

oOo

"I'm home." Kiku called out as soon as they entered the front door and removed their shoes and jackets.

A Japanese woman with black hair tied into a bun behind her head, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and an ankle-length skirt greeted them as they entered the living room, a smile adorning her face. "Welcome." She said, her voice far more accented than Kiku's.

"Hi, Mrs. Honda! Thanks for the lunch, by the way!" Alfred greeted cheerfully, giving her his winning smile.

Mrs. Honda waved her hand, shaking her head slightly. "Oh no, I only helped Kiku a little. He did most of the work."

Kiku flushed red a little when Alfred looked at him. The blond laughed. "Aw, thanks dude! It was really delicious."

The Japanese boy was trying to stammer a response when Feliciano walked by him to give Mrs. Honda a hug, surprising the Japanese woman. "_Ciao, Signora!_"

"O-oh, hello, Feli-kun." Mrs. Honda patted Feliciano on the back until he let go. Even though Kiku had been friends with them for years now, Feliciano's hugs still surprised her.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Honda." Ludwig nodded at the Japanese woman and she smiled at him.

"Good afternoon to you too, Ludwig-kun." She responded then caught sight of Matthew, who just stood at the back. "Oh? And this is? Your brother, Alfred-kun?"

They all looked at Matthew and Alfred slung an arm around his shoulders, beaming. "Yep! He's Matthew!"

"Oh? I didn't know you had a brother, Alfred-kun. It's nice to meet you, Matthew-kun." Mrs. Honda gave a small bow.

Matthew turned red and also bowed, not really knowing what to do. "I-It's nice to m-meet you too."

"Alfred-kun is joking, _kaa-san_." Kiku sighed, and Alfred laughed at Mrs. Honda's confusion.

"Mattie and I aren't really brothers. I was just joking." Alfred explained.

"Oh!" Mrs. Honda exclaimed with realization then looked at Alfred and Matthew. "Oh, you really aren't? You two look like twins."

Alfred just shrugged. "That's all there is to it, I guess." He still really felt disappointed that Matthew wasn't his brother but it's not something he could change.

"We're going up to my room to play, _kaa-san_." Kiku said, leading the boys up the stairs.

"Sure, I'll bring you guys some snacks."

"Thanks."

They all climbed up the stairs and headed for Kiku's room.

oOo

When Alfred got home that night, he found Arthur on the living room couch, embroidering with the television on, playing some sort of news report. He walked to the couch and heavily sank down on it beside Arthur.

"Welcome home, Alfred." Arthur said without looking up at him. "Had fun at Kiku's?"

"Yep." Alfred tiredly replied. "We invited Mattie with us and he's awesome. We ganged up on him one time and he went berserk mode, it was shocking and funny. He's really fun to be with."

Arthur only hummed, putting his embroidery down and stretching his arms upwards.

"He's also gonna join us on our study session on Friday."

Arthur whirled at Alfred at that, his eyes wide. "You're bringing him to Francis'?"

Alfred gave his guardian a puzzled look. "Uh, yeah?"

The Brit only stared at him for a few seconds, with a thoughtful look on his face. "Hm." He continued stretching and rotated his head then his shoulders before picking up his embroidery again. "You're getting awfully attached to Matthew."

"Yeah, well, he's fun to be with. And it's funny how people always mistake us as twins. Kiku's mom asked us if we were twins when we went to his house and I said yes. But Kiku told her it's a joke, and her face was really funny."

"I see, I'm glad that that amuses you. Anyway, I was thinking we should go hunting this weekend."

"What?!" It was Alfred's turn to look at Arthur with wide eyes.

Arthur seemed unfazed by Alfred's reaction. "Yes, it's been a month, hasn't it? I can't have our hunting skills going rusty. We're going out Friday and Saturday nights."

"Uh… I don't want to." Alfred whispered, knowing that Arthur would be mad at him.

"What was that?" Arthur asked, not stopping from his embroidering, but Alfred knew that he heard him.

He squirmed. "Um… I don't want to go hunting."

Arthur sighed but still didn't look at him. That's unexpected. "And, why not?"

"Um… I don't want to drink from humans." Alfred cautiously answered.

Arthur didn't say anything and started cleaning up his embroidery and tools. After gathering them up,he stood up from the couch and headed for the stairs. "I'm going ahead to sleep. We're going hunting Friday and Saturday nights so make sure you don't make any plans."

"Arthur!" Alfred shot up from the couch, anger starting to crawl to him. "I don't want to go hunting! I won't go with you!"

"Alfred, enough!" Arthur shouted back at him, stopping at the few bottom steps of the stairs, but not looking at Alfred. "You are _still_ half-vampire, and you are that half to me! So I won't let you, I will _never_ let you reject that side of you."

Alfred let out a whine of frustration and he raced after Arthur when he continued up the stairs. "I am not rejecting my vampire-ism, I cannot reject it! I have to drink blood no matter what, and I _do_, so I'm not rejecting it! But I also cannot reject my human side, Arthur, you're the one who cannot accept that!"

"No, you're right, you might not be able to reject your human side, but you could be more vampire than more human. And by refusing to go hunting, you're choosing to be more human, and I'm telling you, I won't let you do that."

"But what if I _want_ to be more human?!"

Arthur froze, his shoulders tensed. Alfred noticed that he started trembling, from what, he couldn't guess because the Brit had his back to him. "I detest humans." Arthur spat then continued walking to his room, slamming the door shut.

Alfred didn't go after him and just stayed frozen on where he stood, as he sagged with sadness and whispered, "So are you telling me that you'll detest me?"

* * *

_TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I would just like to thank everyone who favorited and followed this story. The guilt that I feel making you all wait for an update drives me into writing one. And the more people following this story, the guiltier I get, and the more motivation I have to write._

_I also want to thank those who reviewed. You're giving me a reward by giving me feedback, and your encouragement motivates me even more. So thank you so much! :)_

_Read on and enjoy!_

* * *

_New York, 2000_

_ "Listen to me, Alfred." Arthur started as he tied the boy's bowtie. "You can't tell anyone about us, understood? You can't tell them that we're different, that we're not humans, because they'll kill us if they find out."_

_ Alfred nodded obediently although he looked a little confused. "How are we different? Why are we not human?"_

_ Arthur sighed and looked Alfred over before nodding to himself. He looked Alfred in the eyes and answered, "We're different because we're special, Alfred. We're stronger, we're smarter, we're superior beings. Humans are weak and silly, and we're neither of those. We also drink blood and they don't."_

_ "Why don't they drink blood?"_

_ "Because they don't need to. And they think it doesn't taste good. We, however, need to drink blood to live, and blood tastes very sweet to us." Arthur straightened up, running his hands on his suit to fix the absent creases. "Enough questions for now, love. We need to get you to school."_

_ Alfred nodded and gave Arthur his hand as they walked out of the house together. Arthur locked the front door and they headed for the car. They got in and they drove towards the kindergarten._

_ When they arrived, Arthur walked Alfred to the doors where other parents were also walking their own children to. They stopped to the side and Arthur bent down to Alfred's level. "Have fun and try to not trouble the teacher and the other children. I'll come pick you up after."_

_ Alfred looked around them with a nervous expression before turning back to Arthur. "Artie, I don't want to go."_

_ Arthur smiled and brushed Alfred's hair to the side. "Don't worry, love, it won't take long. Before you know it, I'll be back already." He hesitated for a bit, looking around at the other children. "Uh, try to get along with the other children. Although I don't really want you getting close to humans."_

_ "I won't." Alfred said. "I won't get close to them so don't leave me here." He looked pleadingly at Arthur with big blue eyes, which the Brit had a hard time resisting._

_ "I'm sorry, Alfred." Arthur said with an apologetic smile. "It's not like I'm leaving you here. I'll be back. I told you already, remember? I will never leave you." Alfred still looked unconvinced. "Tell you what, if you go, we'll get ice cream when I come back."_

_ Alfred brightened up a little. "Really?"_

_ "Yes, really." Arthur replied with a nod._

_ Alfred hesitated and looked around again before nodding hesitantly. "Okay, I'll go."_

_ Arthur beamed. "Good boy." He ruffled Alfred's head and kissed him on the forehead. "I'll be back when you're done." He stood up straight and urged Alfred towards the building. "Go on, then, poppet. On your way."_

_ Alfred still looked hesitant as he walked towards the building. He kept looking back at Arthur who just smiled at him and waved. He waved back and proceeded to go in. When he took one last glance behind him, Arthur was gone._

_oOo_

_ As soon as Alfred saw Arthur, he loudly called out, "Artie!" and ran straight to the man._

_ Arthur bent down to his knees with open arms to catch Alfred who threw himself into Arthur's arms and started crying. Arthur comfortingly stroked Alfred's head and carried him up as he stood. "There, there, poppet, what's wrong?"_

_ Alfred wrapped his arms tightly around Arthur's neck and buried his face on his shoulder. "I… I was so s-scared that you wouldn't come b-back."_

_ Arthur sighed and pressed his cheek against Alfred's head. "But I told you that I would; don't you believe in me?"_

_ "I-I do!" Alfred quickly exclaimed, pulling away and looking at Arthur sincerely, blue eyes glassy with tears._

_ Arthur smiled at him and wiped his tears. "And I came back, didn't I?"_

_ Alfred nodded._

_ "There, so you see? You just have to believe in me. And I also told you that we'll get ice cream, so let's go get that ice cream now, shall we?"_

_ Alfred broke out into a smile and nodded eagerly. "Let's!"_

_ Arthur chuckled and carried Alfred all the way to the car, the boy clinging to his neck._

* * *

_Toronto, 2012 Winter_

Alfred opened the door to Francis' house and made his presence known, "Hi, Francis! We're here!" They shuffled into the house and headed into the living room, sitting down on the couches.

Francis came out from the kitchen, wearing a white frilly apron, his blond hair drawn back into a ponytail. "_Bonjour_, _garçons_!" He spread out his arms and looked at all of them. "Where's my greeting?"

"Why do we keep coming back to this place?" Ludwig asked no one in particular as Feliciano stood up from his seat and went to hug Francis.

"Big brother Francis, _ciao_!"

Francis enveloped Feliciano into a hug, squeezing him for a second before letting go. "Ah, Feli! _Tu es un ange_! And the rest of you are just rude." He told the others.

Alfred just laughed as Kiku scrambled to his feet and bowed politely, "Good afternoon, Francis-san."

"Hm, well, Kiku is an exception then. As for the rest of you."

Matthew also stood up, blushing and looking down on his feet with embarrassment. "_B-Bonjour_, _monsieur_."

Francis looked at him in surprise, eyebrows raised. "Oh?"

"He's my brother, Francis!" Alfred said jokingly, making the Frenchman's eyebrows go higher.

"Well, you certainly look just like one another."

"Don't we?"

Matthew turned redder. "H-He's joking."

Francis chuckled and slowly walked to Matthew. "I'm aware, _petit_. But what's your name?"

"Matthew Williams, _monsieur_." Matthew politely replied, still looking down the ground.

Francis stopped right in front of him and just stared for a second, making Matthew squirm under his probing gaze. Then his lips curled into a smile and he hugged Matthew, making the boy slightly jump. When he finally withdrew, he ran his hand just above Matthew's bum, making the boy blush harder. "_Enchanté_, _Mattieu_. I'm Francis."

"_E-Enchanté._" Matthew stammered.

"Your food's burning, Francis!" Alfred piped in to save Matthew from further harassment.

Francis sighed theatrically, shaking his head a little. "That's certainly one way to kick me out of my own living room, Alfred. You're growing to be just like your guardian, _mon dieu_."

"We should really just never return here. We can go to my place or Feli's or Kiku's instead." Ludwig said.

"Why can't we go to Alfred's?" Matthew asked again.

Alfred sighed, answering, "Artie doesn't like strangers going into the house. He's really paranoid and cautious. Even though it's not like there are people hunting him down or anything." Francis snickered at him and he raised his eyebrows, "What?"

"Nothing. I'm going to check my cake. Have fun studying." Francis responded and walked back into the kitchen.

Alfred stood up just as the others sat back down, and he ran after Francis into the kitchen. "Francis, are there really people hunting Artie down?" He asked worriedly, careful to not let his voice be heard by the others.

"Well, you're forgetting what we are, Alfred." Francis said, going to the oven and opening it to check the cake.

"No, I'm not. So there really are people hunting him down?"

"You should ask him that." Francis closed the oven, turning to face Alfred and leaning his hip on the counter, one hand propped up on the other.

Alfred pouted. "He probably won't tell me."

"If he won't, then I'll tell you." Francis smirked.

Alfred thought about that, another question popping up in his mind. "Then, will you tell me how my parents died? You do know about that, don't you?"

Francis' smile turned apologetic. "Ah, that I can't tell you. It's best if Arthur does. He's the one who knows the truth, after all."

"Then, do you at least know anything about my brother?"

Francis paused, staring at Alfred. He was considering something, Alfred could tell. "Arthur told me he's dead. He died with your parents. The hunters got him too."

Alfred looked down dejectedly. "Oh."

There was another few seconds of silence before Alfred heard Francis let out a breath. "You know, Alfred, Arthur is very scared of losing you."

"I know."

"And he thinks that if you choose to be more human, you'll eventually leave him."

Alfred looked up at Francis, incredulous. "Wha-? How can he think that? I'll never leave him!"

"Hm." Francis agreed but his eyes told Alfred differently.

"You don't believe me."

"It's not in the matter of believing you or not, _mon cher_. It's more like, ah, let's say, right now, you won't leave him. But there might come a time that you'll change your mind."

"I won't." Alfred insisted stubbornly.

Francis smiled at him. "But we don't really know that, _cher_. After all, you don't know everything."

"Artie won't tell me anything!"

"And it becomes a cycle." Francis concluded, turning away from Alfred to check on the cake again. "Don't be so impatient, Alfred. You'll know everything when the time comes."

Alfred jutted his lips out in a pout and crossed his arms. "I hate it when people say that."

Francis only snickered at him. "For now, go and study with your friends. And you should bring _Mattieu_ more often." He added with a leer.

"You're too old for him, Francis." Alfred said before turning around and walking out the kitchen, returning to the living room where Matthew was discussing something with Kiku.

oOo

When Alfred got home that night, he hesitated from going inside. Since the fight he had with Arthur, the air between the two of them had been heavy, and none of them really made an effort to clear it. Arthur ignored him most of the time, talking to him only if necessary, and Alfred locked himself up in his room, only going down to eat dinner in silence with Arthur.

Besides, he still didn't want to go out hunting. Although he might have a little change of heart because of the talk he had with Francis. If Arthur really thought that Alfred would leave him just because he chose to be more human, then maybe he could placate Arthur a little by going out on a hunt. Just this time.

So Alfred finally opened the front door and went in, entering the living room. Arthur was sitting on the couch, embroidering as usual, but dressed in clothes that made Alfred stop by the doorway, surprised.

Arthur was usually clothed in dress shirts and slacks, and the most casual he could've been seen in would be in a sweater vest and khakis, excluding his pajamas and night gowns. But right now, Arthur was in the most casual clothing Alfred had seen him in.

Instead of his dress shirts and sweater vests, Arthur was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt that stuck to his lithe body tightly, with a wide neckline exposing his beautifully molded collarbones. And instead of slacks and khakis, he wore black skin-tight jeans, a chain hanging from his belt loop to his back pocket. That was another thing that struck Alfred because Arthur didn't usually wear accessories. He had a few on him right now.

A black string choker was around his pale neck, and there was an earring or two on each of his ears. Alfred didn't even know that Arthur had holes on his ears nor was he aware that the older man was capable of looking so… so young. Arthur looked like he was in his early twenties.

While Alfred just stood there gawking at his guardian, said guardian finally noticed him and looked up at him, making Alfred's heart skip a beat when those green eyes landed on his. "Alfred, you're finally here. Go change so we can go out."

Alfred swallowed, doubtful that he was capable of speech at the moment, what with Arthur looking like that. "Wha- who- wh-where are we going?" he stuttered.

Arthur frowned at him. "Hunting, of course."

"Wh-why do you look like that?" Alfred asked, looking at Arthur from head to toe and staring.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him, looked down to himself then back up at Alfred. "Like what?"

"Th-that! Why do you look like that! Like some… like some… I don't know, why do you look like that?!"

"Alfred, you're not making sense."

"I-I mean, you usually wear suits and stuffs, I didn't even know you had normal clothing!"

Arthur was looking slightly amused now. "This is not the first time I've worn 'normal clothing', if you must know."

"What?! But this is the first time I've seen you in them!"

"Is it?" He shrugged. "Must be because I only wear them when I go hunting."

"No, you wear formal clothing when we go hunting!"

"When I go hunting with _you_. But when I go out to hunt alone, I wear these. I've only taught you the old way of hunting, so I'm teaching you the modern way of hunting tonight."

Alfred scrunched up his face. "There's an old way and a modern way?"

"Of course." Arthur replied, smirking. "I may be a few hundred years old, but I make sure to keep up with time. Now hurry up and get change so we can go."

"Uh… right." Alfred took one last look at Arthur before going up the stairs and to his room. He closed the door behind him, leaning against it for a moment as he came down from his shock. He noticed that he was feeling really hot and dropped his bag, then stripped off his clothing.

He walked to his closet and grabbed a set of shirts and jeans then threw them on. After changing, he went back down the living room, Arthur looking up at him at the sound of his footsteps, and then scowling.

"What?" Alfred asked, noticing the face Arthur was making.

Arthur stood up, putting his embroidery down and walking up to Alfred. "Honestly boy, do you not know how to dress to impress?" He took Alfred's hand and dragged him back to Alfred's room.

"Who am I impressing?" Alfred asked, trying to ignore the feel of Arthur's hand in his, trying not to think of how smoother it felt than his and how smaller it was. It was strange because Arthur used to have bigger hands and Alfred had often compared his with Arthur's to see if he'd grown.

"Why, our lovely blood donor, of course." Arthur let go when they've entered the room, and Alfred refused to notice how empty his hand suddenly felt. He walked to Alfred's closet and looked around at the clothes in there.

Alfred just watched Arthur sort through his clothes for awhile, his eyes running through the expanse of Arthur's back. He'd never noticed before, but Arthur had a perfectly narrowed waist that made him swallow. Then his eyes landed on Arthur's bum, round and plump, probably from the skinny jeans he was wearing. He didn't even notice that he'd been staring until Arthur turned to him, his eyes quickly snapping back to Arthur's face.

The Brit had an eyebrow raised but he just shrugged. "Put these on." He handed some clothes to Alfred before stepping back and crossing his arms. "Hurry up, we're wasting time."

Alfred dropped the clothes on the bed and held unto the hem of his shirt. Then he felt Arthur staring at him and turned to the Brit. "Are you going to watch me change?"

"What, getting shy now?" Arthur asked.

Alfred blushed and turned away. "No way!" Of course not. Arthur used to dress him before, why would he be shy to him now? He removed his clothing and got into the change of clothes that Arthur got him, aware that Arthur was watching him and making his face heat up. When he was done, he turned back to Arthur.

Arthur just stared at him for a few seconds before nodding to himself and walking to him. "You've certainly grown up." He murmured and reached out to Alfred's hair when he got close enough. He swept Alfred's hair with his hands, trying to flatten this hair that stood up and failing, before he let his arms drop. He looked at Alfred, his nose, his lips, his eyes, his face. "You've grown."

Alfred willed himself to not blush from Arthur's staring and touching. "Well, duh. I'm seventeen now."

"That's still very young." Arthur responded, turning away from him and walking out the room. Alfred followed after him.

"Of course it is, compared to an ancient person like you."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm not even that _ancient_, as you call it."

They both grabbed their jackets and keys and put on their boots, Alfred appreciating the way Arthur looked again. They exited the house after Alfred was sent to turn off all the lights, then headed to the garage, getting into Arthur's car.

"Where are we going exactly?" Alfred asked, confused. They didn't usually take the car whenever they went hunting.

"Hunting." Arthur replied, turning on the engine and pulling out the garage after, driving them down the road. "But that doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun first."

"What fun?"

"You'll see."

Arthur drove in silence so Alfred turned on the radio, searched for a song he liked, and half-sung, half-hummed with it. They only drove for a couple minutes before Arthur was going into a parking lot and turning off the car.

Alfred looked out the window. "Where are we?"

"Let's go and you'll see." Was Arthur's only reply and he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out. Alfred followed after him and Arthur locked the car, then started walking up a building across the street, where a lot of other people were crowding on.

As they got closer, Alfred had the slightest bit of suspicion that he knew what this place was, and he turned out to be right when they finally entered. His jaw dropped open at the sight of the blinking lights, the dancing lights, and the really loud song coming out the speakers that seemed to be too close.

Arthur got a hold of his hand and walked them right into the crowd of dancing bodies, and Alfred pulled unto Arthur when he finally got over his shock to whisper-yell, "Artie, what the hell?! How did I even get in here?!"

The Brit turned to him with a confused expression. "What do you mean? Don't you younger people always come to this kind of place?"

"No, I mean, yeah, probably. If we were back in New York. But I stopped partying when we've come here."

"Oh, you partied the wrong way back there. You should see how it's done right for our kind." Arthur let go of Alfred and turned away from him when a young woman walked up to him and asked him for a dance. Arthur smiled at the woman, a kind of smile that Alfred had never seen on him before and made his stomach turn into knots, and agreed to dance.

Alfred watched as the woman stuck her body close to Arthur's, pressing herself up to him and rubbing herself against his body. Arthur's hand rested themselves on the woman's waist and started to dance, making Alfred's eyes glue themselves to him, his mouth hanging agape.

He couldn't stop watching as Arthur moved his body sensually. Alfred could feel his lower body growing uncomfortable, a fluttering feeling in his chest. He kept on swallowing, and he just itched to get that woman off Arthur and dance with him instead.

Arthur's eyes flickered to him, and he could read the command to move in them. So he did, and he walked to them, pressing himself against the woman's back. He wished he could shove the woman aside and dance directly with Arthur, press himself against Arthur but he was afraid that that would be too weird and so he just satisfied himself with dancing so closely to the Brit.

The woman didn't seem to mind having him at her back, and also pressed herself to him. Instead of pushing her out of the way, Alfred placed his hands right above Arthur's and comforted himself with that. It wasn't too weird to do that, right?

Arthur smirked at him and moved his hands to direct the woman's movements and turned her around, so she was facing Alfred and her back was to Arthur.

The woman looked at Alfred then smiled up at him, her smile reminding him of the way Francis did when flirting with people. She seemed to eagerly dance closer to him now, probably enjoying the presence of two hot guys front and back, thinking herself lucky.

She was never more wrong.

Arthur leaned in close to her ear and whispered something. She tilted her head back a little to look at him and responded with something. They talked with each other for a moment, Alfred unable to hear their conversation, and at times, they laughed together. Then something that Arthur said made the woman glance at Alfred then nod at Arthur.

Then they were suddenly getting out of the dance floor and heading outside. They walked back to Arthur's car with the woman holding unto Arthur's arm, and he opened the backseat, the woman going in. He closed the door then tossed the car keys to Alfred.

Alfred caught them smoothly. "Wha-"

"Drive us, Alfred. We're going to this lady's place." Then he opened the door again and went in.

Alfred just stood confused for a second before he walked to the driver's side and got in. The woman was stuck to Arthur's arm again when Alfred looked at them through the rearview mirror, and she gave him her address through a series of giggles.

He started up the car and drove to the given address, and not even a minute on the road, Arthur was already entertaining the woman with a passionate dancing of the lips.

Alfred's blood boiled at the sight of it and he could barely concentrate on the road while trying to keep his eyes away from the rearview mirror.

It was a miracle that Alfred managed to hold unto his sanity until they finally arrived at the bitch's apartment. The bitch rushed them inside, leading them up to her room as soon as they entered, and stripped.

Arthur grabbed Alfred on the arm and pulled him to the bed, pushing him to a seat against the headboard. Then he grabbed the woman and pushed her against Alfred's back, sitting her nicely in between Alfred's legs. Lastly, he climbed unto the bed and settled himself in between the woman's legs, pressing himself against her as he leaned to reach Alfred's ear.

"This is how you do it, love." He whispered, making Alfred shiver.

Then he grinded his lower body against the woman, making the woman moan, while Alfred groaned when the woman's back rubbed against him. But the pleasure didn't last for long, when Arthur opened his mouth, revealing his elongated fangs, and buried them into the woman's flesh.

The woman let out a short scream before it turned into a moan, and she started to tremble.

Arthur raised a hand to put on Alfred's shoulder for support, his other hand placed at the back of the woman's head. He was drinking from the woman but his eyes were focused on Alfred's.

Alfred stared back at him, watching him, because he'd never seen Arthur drink so close to him before. They were only about a feet away from each other, and Alfred could see the way Arthur's lips were attached to the woman's flesh, how he was sucking, and he couldn't tear his gaze away.

He swallowed, suddenly thoughtful, curious. What if Arthur wasn't drinking blood from this woman, what if Arthur's soft-looking lips weren't on _her_ neck, but on his- Alfred's- instead?

oOo

Arthur brought Alfred to another club the next night and did the same thing he had the night before. He danced with a woman, flirted with her, and later on, the woman willingly brought them back to her place and Arthur gladly fed from her.

Alfred was more hesitant to drink from the woman that night, as he had finally gotten used to Arthur's transformation. That Friday night, he had drunk from the woman without hesitation, driven by the irritation he felt at having Arthur sucking on her neck. He had not felt sorry for the woman at the time, the feeling only coming to him the day after.

So when Saturday night came, he was more aware that he shouldn't really be feeding directly from a person; he felt that it was just wrong. He felt like Arthur and he was fooling the woman, and he felt bad for it.

And that's why, Sunday afternoon, Alfred found himself sitting on Francis' couch, the Frenchman serving him lemonade and snacks. He picked up a brownie that Francis had made and ate it distractedly, his mind registering how delicious the food was for only a mere second.

"Something on your mind, Alfred?" Francis asked as he sat down beside him, wine at hand. "You're not yourself, _cher_."

Alfred finished the brownie he was eating and swallowed, not looking at Francis as he replied, "Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how I'm feeling right now."

"About what, exactly?"

"Arthur." Alfred replied, picking up another brownie and starting to eat it.

Francis raised an eyebrow at him. "What about him?"

"Well." Alfred chewed thoughtfully for a second before swallowing and explaining, "We went hunting Friday night and last night, right?"

"_Oui_."

"And he was… he was different." Alfred just stared at his brownie, remembering the way Arthur had looked and acted. He seemed like a totally different person, as if he was a different person from the responsible guardian who'd raised him.

"Oh?"

Alfred stopped staring and took a small bite from the brownie so he could talk at the same time he chewed. "Yeah. He was really different. He wore this crazy clothes that surprisingly suited him like, a lot, and that was the first time I saw him flirting and smiling all seductively and he was… he was so…" he blushed just at the memory of it.

Francis looked at him confusedly for a moment before his face lit up with realization. "Oh! You mean the tight clothes? I forget that he's capable of wearing those and actually looking good in it. _Oui_, _oui_, he does seem different when he's in those sorts of clothing, doesn't he?" He smirked, twirling his glass of wine in small circles. "He looks so very erotic in them."

Alfred turned redder and almost choked on his brownie. He glared at Francis.

"Ah, I told him to just stick to wearing those all the time." Francis sighed melodramatically, promptly ignoring Alfred. "But _non_, he just wears them when he's out hunting. Oh." He looked over at the younger man, grinning. "So he finally brought you to _that_ kind of hunting? About time!"

"No, I'm only seventeen, I'm not legal! I'm surprised Arthur even brought me to that kind of place, when he's so strict when it comes to rules and shit."

Francis laughed at that. "_Non_, _non_, you're mistaken, _mon cher_! Back when we were your age, he often broke the rules, bent them to his benefit, _made_ the rules. He was a real brat and he always got what he wanted. He only got out that phase a hundred or so years later."

Alfred stared at Francis with wide eyes, unable to believe it. "No way. I can't imagine it."

"Well, he's so very prim and proper now, trying to be a gentleman." Francis said, taking a sip of his wine. "But how ungentlemanly is it of him to not invite me when you're doing that kind of hunting?" He scoffed. "How did that go, anyway?"

Alfred deflated and went back to mechanically eating brownies. "I don't want to do that again. It's bad and it's wrong. Why can't we just stick to drinking from blood bags and not hunt ever again?"

"Arthur can't do that. We can't do that." Francis immediately said.

"Why not?" Alfred demanded with a frown.

"Because a vampire that cannot hunt is not a true vampire." Francis replied as if he was reciting a sentence that had been told to him and had been saying since. "It's a necessary skill, so to speak. When pureblood vampires finally have their coming-of-age ceremony, they are required to go hunting. But that's not the only case for Arthur."

Alfred gave him a puzzled, curious look. "What do you mean?"

Francis took in a breath and drank from his wine first before answering, "Arthur is used to drinking blood from another pureblood vampire."

Alfred's eyes widened like saucers. "What?" He breathed out. He didn't think that vampires could drink blood from other vampires. He thought about it before of course, especially that Friday night when he'd strangely felt like wanting Arthur sink his fangs into his neck instead, but he thought that that was just wishful thinking.

"Normally, vampires don't get to drink the blood of the other vampires. No vampire is willing to let the others drink from himself especially because it's dangerous. Vampire blood can boost the strength of the one who drinks it, and no vampire wants anyone stronger than himself. On average, us purebloods get to drink vampire blood only a few times. The first time would be at the coming-of-age ceremony when the parents let their child drink their blood. And the rest of the times come after we marry. That is, of course, if our partner is willing to let us drink their blood."

"And… and Arthur?" Alfred asked hesitantly.

"Oh, Arthur got to drink vampire blood _daily_. For a while, he was the strongest among the rest of the council members, it was his golden age. But apparently, if you get used to drinking vampire blood, nothing else will ever be able to satisfy you. It may seem like Arthur is satisfied with drinking human blood, but I'm certain he's craving for vampire blood. And he tries to quench that craving by getting the freshest human blood he could. That's why he needs to hunt."

"Oh." Alfred paused for a second, letting all that new information sink in. He couldn't believe that he didn't know about that until now. It seemed like even though he spent most of his life with Arthur, he still didn't know half about him. "But how was Arthur able to drink vampire blood daily?"

Francis took his time answering that question. After a minute, it seemed like he wouldn't answer it at all, as he just sat there drinking from his glass once, twice, thrice. But Alfred kept waiting for him to spill, until Francis finished off his glass and opened his mouth to answer.

"Arthur was married. He got lucky and had a partner who was willing to let him drink his blood."

* * *

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Oh, look! An update!_

_As always, thank you so much for the faves/follows/reviews. I love the encouragement :D Keep them coming, please! Enjoy!_

* * *

_New York, 2000_

_Alfred looked up at Arthur cautiously and sniffled when he saw the Brit's stony expression. They were walking towards the house, their hands connected, and of all the times they've held hands, Alfred felt, for the first time, the coldness of Arthur's hand._

_ Arthur opened the front door and they went to the living room, where Arthur made Alfred sit on a couch as he went to get a cup of tea._

_ Alfred waited nervously and fiddled with his hands the whole while Arthur was in the kitchen. When Arthur finally returned with a cup of tea at hand, Alfred looked up at him with unshed tears. This was the first time he felt scared of Arthur's anger too. Arthur had been angry with him before, especially when he broke their teacups, but this was the first time that Arthur didn't scold him immediately._

_ "Alfred." Arthur called out and Alfred flinched._

_ "Ye- yes?"_

_ Arthur put his teacup down on the coffee table and sat back on the single couch he's sitting on that was adjacent to the couch Alfred was on, his legs crossed. He looked down at Alfred with stern green eyes. "Why did you push that boy?"_

_ Alfred's tears started running down his face and he wiped at it with his sleeves. "I-I'm sorry, Artie, I didn't m-mean to p-push him! We were p-playing tag, and I was g-going to tag him, b-but I accidentally pushed him." He sobbed. "I didn't mean to push him."_

_ Arthur sighed, and Alfred thought that Arthur understood him. He hoped that Arthur would hug him just like he always did and tell him that it's alright and that he wasn't at fault._

_ "Alfred, what did I tell you about humans?" Arthur asked instead._

_ Alfred tilted his head and tried to recall what Arthur had told him. "Um… they're… we're different from them?"_

_ "Yes. They're weak, Alfred, keep that in mind." Arthur said in a hard voice that wanted to make Alfred cry harder. He didn't like this kind of angry Arthur. "They're weak and they can get hurt easily. You saw the wound you caused on that boy's knee when you pushed him, didn't you? If you don't remember that they're weak and delicate, you'll keep on hurting the other children like that."_

_ "I-I'm sorry."_

_ "But it's not just that, Alfred. No, I don't care if you hurt those humans. What I'm worried about is those humans finding out that we're different. If they find out that we're different from them, they'll hurt us, Alfred. They'll hurt us more than you hurt that boy. They'll kill us." Arthur stood up from his seat and crouched down in front of Alfred. He looked at the boy worriedly, cupping the boy's cheeks in his hands. "They'll hurt you, poppet. I don't want them to hurt you. They'll hurt me too. Do you want them to hurt me?"_

_ Alfred vigorously shook his head. He didn't want anyone to hurt Arthur. "No, no! I don't want them to hurt you!"_

_ "Exactly." Arthur nodded. "And that's why you have to be more careful. Handle those humans delicately. I don't want any more trouble in the future, else, punishment will be served. Do you understand me, love?"_

_ Alfred nodded._

_ Arthur finally gave him a small smile and kissed him on the forehead. "You're a smart child, Alfred. All you have to do is listen to me and everything will be alright."_

_ Alfred reached out his arms to hug Arthur around the neck. He was pleased that Arthur hugged him back and he sighed contentedly as he relaxed in Arthur's arms. Arthur was not angry at him anymore._

_oOo_

_ Alfred woke up in the middle of the night because of the sound of screaming. He slowly sat up on his bed, rubbing at his eyes sleepily and continued to hear noises outside. He wondered what Arthur was doing and what was happening outside, so he got out of bed and trotted out of his room._

_ He headed towards the source of the noise, which was the living room. It was dark in the hallways and so was the living room, but the light from the television illuminated Arthur's form on the couch, watching the movie playing intently._

_ "Artie, what are you doing?" He asked groggily, walking towards the Brit._

_ Arthur tore his eyes away from the television and turned to Alfred, looking a little surprised. "Alfred, why are you still awake?"_

_ "I heard noises and it woke me up." He stopped in front of Arthur and raised his arms out, wanting Arthur to take him up._

_ Arthur did as expected and lifted the child off his feet unto his lap. "My apologies, love. I was just watching this movie." He turned his eyes back to the television._

_ Alfred shifted on Arthur's lap until he was comfortably wrapped in Arthur's arms, then he also turned to the television. "What is it?"_

_ "Oh, just some horror movie."_

_ That was the first time that Alfred ever saw a horror movie and it traumatized him greatly. Maybe it was the sound effects; the woman screaming; the monster moaning; or maybe the horrible face of the monster itself, but it left Alfred screaming along the characters and crying._

_ When he just couldn't shut up anymore, and he started wailing, Arthur turned it off with a sigh and comforted Alfred with strokes on the head as he clutched at Arthur tightly, trembling._

_ "There, now, love, it wasn't that scary, was it?" Arthur said gently._

_ Alfred shook his head in disagreement. "I-It was s-scary!" He sobbed._

_ "But they're not real, Alfred. It's just a movie. Besides, you're a vampire. You shouldn't be afraid of those measly monsters. The real monsters of this world are the humans."_

_ But Alfred was still afraid of the monster in the television and refused to let go of Arthur for even a second._

_ After a few more minutes of just sitting on the couch, and Alfred finally calming down a little, Arthur tried to look at the boy in the eyes. "Come, Alfred, let's return you to bed."_

_ Alfred's panic returned and he vigorously shook his head. "No, no, no! I don't want to sleep! What if that monster appears?" He looked up at Arthur with wide, scared teary eyes, and Arthur sighed._

_ "It's not real, Alfred. Trust me. It won't appear or anything."_

_ "No! I don't want to be alone! Don't leave me, Artie!"_

_ As the boy began to cry again, Arthur paused to think for a second before he wiped off the tears running down Alfred's cheeks. "Very well, you can come sleep with me tonight."_

_ Alfred immediately stopped crying and he looked up at Arthur with such hopeful blue eyes. "Really?"_

_ "Really."_

_ Alfred hugged Arthur around the neck tightly as the Brit stood up and carried him towards the latter's room. This was the first time Alfred slept with Arthur and he was beyond ecstatic to stay near the man._

_ Arthur put Alfred down the bed gently and slowly let go of the boy. "I'm just going to get ready for bed, poppet. I'll be right there with you."_

_ Alfred reluctantly let Arthur go and watched as the man changed out of his suit to his sleeping gown. Not more than a minute later, Arthur was back on the bed with Alfred and they were getting under the covers._

_ The boy made sure to stick close to Arthur and he was happy and relieved when Arthur wrapped his strong arms around him, pulling him closer for them to cuddle. Alfred buried his head in Arthur's neck and was relaxed by the smell of tea that had become a part of Arthur's natural scent._

_ Arthur nuzzled his nose against Alfred's head and inhaled. "Goodnight, poppet. Sleep tight. I will never leave you. I will protect you."_

_ Alfred smiled at that and murmured back, "Goodnight, Artie."_

* * *

_Toronto, 2012 Winter_

When Alfred got home that night, he wanted to go ask Arthur if he really got married to someone. He wanted to ask who he married to, where that person was now, why they were not together. But when he saw Arthur, he couldn't bring himself to ask the questions.

He had asked Francis the same questions and a lot more, but the Frenchman had refused to answer, and only told him that it's not his story to tell.

Monday came and the questions were still bothering him. He ate Kiku's homemade lunch mechanically, staring off dazedly somewhere else, and not participating in the conversations.

"Alfred-kun." He snapped out of his daze and looked up at Kiku questioningly to be met by his friend's worried expression. "Is the food not to your tastes?"

That took a second to register, and Alfred looked down at his food, blinked at it, then abruptly looked back at Kiku, shaking his head vigorously. "No, no, that's not it! I love your food, Kiku! It's great and you know exactly how I like it. It's just that I have something in my mind."

"Is something wrong?" Matthew asked, also looking worried. When Alfred looked at all of them, they actually wore identical expressions while they stared at him.

Alfred forced a grin and shook his head. "Really, it's nothing. Thanks for the concern guys. You're all great."

Kiku and Matthew exchanged looks, and they didn't look convinced. "Well, if you're sure…" was what Kiku said anyway, and they went back to eating.

Alfred had to hold himself back from sighing just so they don't worry further about him. He put down his fork and reached out for his thermos, opening it. He was reminded that it contained blood when he smelled it just as he was about to drink from it, and his stomach dropped. He recapped the thermos and placed it down, not feeling like drinking blood, especially after what he'd done Friday and Saturday nights. He was still feeling guilty about that.

He looked around the table and noticed that his friends had their own thermoses. Surely, they could share their drinks with him. "Guys, what drinks do you have?" he asked, pointedly looking at the thermoses.

The others looked at him, then at their respective thermos. Feliciano took his and offered it to Alfred gladly, smiling widely. "Ve, I have pasta."

"Uh, no thanks, Feli." Alfred replied, holding his hand up in refusal.

"I have tea in mine. Would you like some?" Kiku offered next.

Alfred groaned. "Nah, thanks but no thanks. I get enough tea at home, what with Artie being addicted to it. I think you and Artie would get along really well since you both love tea so much." Alfred brightened up to that idea. He could mention that to Arthur and maybe the older man would let him bring at least Kiku in the house. Then maybe Arthur would start to realize that humans really weren't all that bad.

"I'd love to meet your guardian, Alfred-kun." Kiku said, smiling.

Alfred grinned back, tucking the idea into his brain for him to remember later when he got home. "That'd be great."

Ludwig and Matthew weren't so generous with their drinks when they just pretended that Alfred hadn't asked anything about their drinks when he looked at them. Alfred waited for a few seconds for any response, before he asked again, "Uh, guys? What do you have for drinks?"

The two of them looked rather hesitant on answering that, Matthew looking away. Ludwig was blushing slightly, and Alfred's eyebrows shot up at the rare sight. He cleared his throat. "It's nothing really. Just… just, ah, something you probably wouldn't like. It's really bitter, and… and… you wouldn't like it."

"Like vegetable juice?" Alfred asked, looking confused.

Ludwig instantly nodded. "Yes, like vegetable juice."

Alfred wrinkled his nose at that, disgusted. He didn't like vegetable juice, or just plain vegetable. He knew that it's healthy and all, but he didn't need the nutrients from it, so thank fucking god he didn't have to eat it. He turned to Matthew. "What about you, Matt?"

Matthew was still averting his eyes, refusing to look at any of them at all. He looked tensed and nervous. "U-um… i-it's… y-you wouldn't like it either."

"Really? What is it?" Alfred moved to grab Matthew's thermos, but Matthew quickly snatched it out of reach and hugged it to himself. He was looking really pale, still not looking at Alfred.

"No, i-it's just… just… um… maple." He whispered.

Alfred leaned in closer to him a bit, not sure if he heard right. "Maple? Like, maple syrup?"

Matthew nodded.

Alfred stared at him in disbelief. "Um, huh? Why would you bring maple syrup with you?"

Matthew blushed, even his ears turning red. "P-please don't ask."

Alfred was still looking rather incredulous, but he just shrugged it off after a second, and turned back to his food and drink. His mood dropped when he realized that he had no choice but to drink the blood because his friends had no alternative drinks for him. Wait, Kiku had tea…

He felt like smacking his head hard against the table as he debated between the blood and the tea. After awhile, he made the decision and looked up at Kiku, who was just giving him a worried glance. "Kiku, I think I might have some of that tea…"

oOo

Alfred kept an eye on Arthur as they ate, trying to find for a chance to bring up his idea. He needed to be as casual about it as he could so as to not incite the Brit's wrath. They've been fighting a lot lately, and that really upset Alfred, so he'd really like to avoid another fight as much as possible.

Arthur was pouring himself another cup of tea when Alfred thought that it might be a good time to mention it now. He watched Arthur's graceful pouring of the tea, and swallowed the food he was chewing. "You know, Artie, Kiku also really likes tea."

The Brit's eyes flickered to him for a second, before going back to his drink. "So you've mentioned before. You did say he's Japanese. It must be that."

"Yeah, and I've tried his tea before and he drinks the same thing as you!" Alfred actually had no idea what tea Kiku liked to drink, but tea tasted the same anyway, so surely, they drank the same thing before. "I'm sure the two of you would get along really well."

Arthur looked at Alfred with narrowed eyes, and Alfred prayed that Arthur wouldn't figure out what he's trying to do. He took a sip of his tea before replying, "I suppose we would have. If only he wasn't human."

Alfred frowned. "That's racist."

"Isn't it?" Arthur smirked, drinking from his cup again. "But that's how the world works, Alfred. We aren't meant to get along with humans, we probably never would. The difference between our species is too massive to be overlooked."

"But that's because you purebloods don't even try." Alfred retorted, getting a bit worked up. "You're not open to change, even though the world around you _is_ changing. You told me that you keep up with the times, but it seems that your beliefs and your mindset aren't."

Arthur glared at Alfred but he kept on drinking his tea. "You don't know anything, Alfred." He said, his voice hard. "You don't know a thing about the vampire society, so as much as you're saying that we're prejudging humans, you are doing the same."

"You won't tell me anything!" Alfred exclaimed.

"Because you don't _need_ to know anything." Arthur replied smoothly. "They're useless information, and as long as you listen to me, as long as you believe in me, everything will be fine. So just stop what you're trying to do already."

Alfred glared at the food in front of him, as if it had offended him in some way. But his frown turned into a saddened expression, and he sagged sadly. "I just want you to at least try." He said then looked up at Arthur with wide, pleading blue eyes. "Can't you? Even just once?"

Arthur just stared at him for a second, and Alfred knew that it was because of the puppy-eyes. He had discovered a few years back that Arthur almost couldn't resist him when he used it. "You're asking me to put our safety in a risk just so you can invite your friends over here. Isn't bringing them to Francis' already enough?"

"It's not just about bringing them over here." Alfred reasoned. His expression softened, and his cheeks turned pink. "I want them to meet you too. It's frustrating because I want to talk about you to them, but I can't because they don't know you so I wouldn't make any sense. I want them to meet you so they'd know how awesome you are and that they'd know that it's because of you that… that I'm the person I am right now. And I'm proud of it."

When Alfred looked up at Arthur shyly, embarrassed by his own words, he was pleased to find Arthur with a stunned expression. Stunned but he was most definitely touched. Arthur's expression softened in a way that reminded Alfred of how gentle and loving Arthur was to him when he was a child, and he almost wanted to have the hug or kiss on the forehead that usually accompanied that expression.

But Arthur just drank his tea, looking down. "I'm sorry, Alfred. I really am. I would have loved to meet your friends if only we were in a different circumstance. And no, it's not just because they're humans. We really will put ourselves in danger if we made outside interactions too much. If _I_ made outside interactions."

Alfred looked at Arthur confusedly for a second before he remembered something that Francis had mentioned to him before. "Wait, Artie, Francis told me that there are people hunting you down. Is that true?"

Arthur just looked at him for a second before replying, "There are always people hunting me down, hunting _us_ purebloods down. The hunters exist even now, and they're so intent on killing us."

"But aren't you stronger than they are? Why do you worry about them?"

Arthur finished his tea and set the teacup down on the table. "It's the number, Alfred, not just the strength. The hunters don't go around in a small number, there's usually around ten of them in an area. And because there are hunters all over the world, if they need the reinforcement, they get it. But us vampires, we don't gather together. We belong to families or clans, yes, but we don't usually stay with them. And here, Alfred, Francis and I only know each other. We don't know any other vampires in the area. We wouldn't get help if ever the hunters find us, and we'll need it."

"Then why are we even here if it's so dangerous? Why don't we go somewhere where we can have help or something?"

The response to that didn't come out quickly, and Arthur only stared at Alfred. The younger man waited and waited for an answer, until he finally raised his eyebrows in question.

Arthur shook his head. "It's hard to explain, Alfred. Maybe I'll tell you some other time." He stood up from his seat and gathered his tea set and plate, carrying them to the kitchen.

Alfred turned back to his own food, staring at it rather dazedly for a second as all the new information sank. He discovered that he really had a lot to learn, what with new questions popping up in his mind. But he was almost sure that Arthur wouldn't probably answer them, so he told himself to remember to ask Francis his questions when they visit again. Francis did say that he'll answer him.

oOo

Feliciano was humming and skipping as he, Alfred, and the others headed to Kiku's house to hang out. Unlike the others who had their hands buried in the pockets of their jackets, he was swinging them happily by his side, not at all bothered by the cold weather.

"Feliciano, walk properly." Ludwig scolded, looking over the Italian worriedly. "It's slippery."

"I'll be fine!" Feliciano responded. "Ve, and if I fall, you'll catch me, won't you?"

Ludwig sighed, shaking his head. "Just because I'll catch you, doesn't mean you can slip."

Kiku watched as the snow slowly fell, and breathed out, a puff of smoke coming out of his mouth, "It's going to be Christmas in a week."

Alfred perked up and he looked at the others with a broad smile. "Do you guys have any plans?"

The others paused to think about that before shaking their heads. "Well, other than spending the day with my family, then no." Ludwig said.

"Ve, ve! Aren't we going to have a Christmas party this year too?" Feliciano asked.

Alfred nodded. "Yup! As always, let's go to Francis' and eat all of his food. I'm also thinking about making a cake this year!" He turned to Matthew who was looking at the snow fall thoughtfully. "Mattie, you're coming too, right?"

Matthew looked over to him and tilted his head to the side. "When will it be?"

"The 23rd. We always have the party on that date so we can spend the Christmas Eve with our families, and also the day itself. What do you think, can you come?"

Matthew nodded. "Yeah, I can."

"Great! It'll be super fun!" Alfred was really looking forward to it because their Christmas parties had always been really fun. He just hoped that this year, he'd be able to convince Arthur to go too. Then it'd be perfect.

"Ve, Alfie, you're going to make a cake this year? Then I'm also making pasta!" Feliciano exclaimed with determination.

Ludwig sighed. "You make pasta _every_ Christmas."

"But it'll be more special this year!" Feliciano replied.

"You also say that _every_-" Ludwig was cut off by Feliciano's cry.

They all looked over as the Italian slipped, and then _tripped_, before he fell roughly on the ground face first. Ludwig had reached out to try and save him but he was too late. "Feli(ciano/kun)!" They all exclaimed.

Ludwig quickly bent down and helped Feliciano up. The Italian looked like he was going to cry, and he even sniffed as he stood up. "Are you okay?"

Feliciano nodded but he leaned heavily on Ludwig. "Ve, I think I scratched my knee." He pulled his pants up and revealed a bleeding scratch.

Alfred grimaced, feeling rather uncomfortable at the sight of blood. Although he had himself in control, he still felt uncomfortable seeing other people's blood.

As he watched Ludwig tend to Feliciano's scratch and stop it from bleeding, he noticed Matthew, who stood beside him, take a step back. He looked over the Canadian, and found him staring at Feliciano's scratched knee, his face paler than it already was.

"Mattie, you ok?" He asked concernedly.

Matthew tore his gaze away from Feliciano and to him. He swallowed heavily then nodded. "Y-yeah. I-it's just that…" he glanced at Feliciano before finishing his sentence, "b-blood really m-makes me… u-uncomfortable."

"Oh, are you scared of blood?"

Matthew hesitated before he nodded.

Alfred smiled reassuringly at him. "Don't worry about it, just turn away and don't look."

Matthew gave a small smile then did just as Alfred said and looked down on the ground. He kept his eyes away from Feliciano the whole time they waited for Ludwig to finish wiping away the Italian's knee.

After a few minutes, Ludwig finally straightened up and Feliciano let his pants fall back to his ankle. "Let's clean that further and bandage it when we get to Kiku's house."

Feliciano nodded. "Okay."

"Can you walk fine, Feli?" Alfred asked.

The Italian nodded again and they resumed to walking, Feliciano making sure to be really careful this time.

oOo

Alfred opened the door and stepped in, calling out, "Francis, I'm here!" He closed the door behind him and stripped off his jacket, then proceeded inside.

Francis was just coming out of the kitchen when Alfred walked into the living room. "Alfred! Where are your friends?"

"I dunno." Alfred replied, going over to Francis. "Maybe I'll call them later. For now, teach me how to bake a cake."

"_Oui_, _oui_. Come on, then."

They both went into the kitchen and Alfred could see the beginnings of something he couldn't figure out what. Francis went straight to a drawer and pulled out a book, tossing it to Alfred. "See what kind of cake you want to make."

Alfred smoothly caught the book and looked at it. It was a pastry book. He opened it up and looked at the pictures of the cakes. "I want to make a colorful cake, Francis. Since it's Christmas, I think it should be green and red."

"_Vert et rouge_, _est-il_? We'll see what we can use to have those colours." Francis bent down over the counter and pulled out some flour and sugar. "Alfred, why don't you get the milk and eggs from the refrigerator?"

Alfred put down the book on the counter and went to the refrigerators. There were two standing side by side against the wall, looking identical. He hesitated, not knowing which one to open. He shrugged, and decided to see where the ingredients were and opened the one on his left. It didn't contain anything other than stacks of packets of blood. He closed it and opened the one on his right, where food and drinks were stored. He got the milk and eggs out, then put them on the counter.

With all the basic ingredients out, Francis placed his hands on his hips and turned to Alfred with a smile. "Alright, I'll teach you the basic of the cakes. Why don't we make a chiffon cake, for starters?"

Francis instructed Alfred to put a few cups of flour on the mixing bowl, break a few eggs on it, put a few cups of sugar in, then pour a little bit of milk. He taught Alfred how to stir the mixture properly, and instructed him to continue even as he slowly put cups and cups of flour and sugar and milk in.

Alfred was doing the stirring when he thought it good to ask his questions. "Francis, you said that you'll answer my questions, right?"

"If I can." The Frenchman replied, waiting for the right time to pour another set of flour and sugar.

"I asked Arthur the other day if there are people hunting him." Alfred started and told Francis of the conversation he had with Arthur that night. "If it's so dangerous, then why are we even here? Shouldn't we have stayed somewhere where other vampires were? If we did, then maybe he wouldn't be so paranoid."

Francis didn't answer immediately. Alfred had noticed that both he and Arthur always thought of what to say first before they answered his questions. "Hmm, well, Arthur wanted to escape."

Alfred paused from his stirring to look at Francis inquisitively. "Escape from what?"

Francis gave him a pointed look and he went back to stirring the mixture. "If you've already guessed, Arthur and your father, Adam, were really close."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out whenever Artie looked like he was going to cry every time my parents are mentioned." He said sadly.

"Indeed. And I think that, for once in his life, he didn't want to stay in his beloved city because it reminds him too much of Adam. Maybe he didn't want to be reminded everyday that Adam has passed, didn't want to accept that truth. So he escaped."

Alfred was silent for a second, letting the information hang. Then, with a much lower voice, he asked, "What was my father like?"

A fond look crossed Francis' face, and he smiled. "He looks just like you. The only thing you probably got from your mother, Martha, is your humanity." Francis tutted at that and Alfred ignored it. "He was bubbly and cheerful just like you are, very optimistic, adventurous, curious. He, Arthur, and I grew up together, with one other person. But in the end, only Arthur and I stayed together."

"What happened to that other person?"

"He left." Francis looked at Alfred and smiled. "He was like you, a half-blood. Naturally, the society looked down upon him with scorn. But he was good friends with Arthur, Adam, and I."

Alfred looked at Francis with confusion. "You had a good friend who was a half-blood, but why does Arthur hate my bloodline? Was he the same with your friend?"

Francis' expression turned blank but he shook his head, and answered. "No. Arthur didn't hate Gil's bloodline. In fact, when someone ridiculed him for being a half-blood, Arthur was first to defend him."

Alfred's confusion deepened, as frustration grew. "Then why does he hate _my_ bloodline?"

A smirk spread across Francis' lips. "I told you, didn't I? You don't know anything or everything."

The frustration Alfred felt increased. Not only Francis had told him that, Arthur did too. "Then why do you guys refuse to tell me anything? I want to know!"

"Not the right time." Francis replied and snatched the mixing bowl from Alfred's hands that had stilled. "This is ready. Come, let's bake it."

Alfred begrudgingly let the subject go, determined to pester Francis about it later.

oOo

Hours later, Alfred had probably baked more cakes than he did through the years ever since he was born. They kept on baking a new cake because Alfred had insisted to start practicing baking his colorful cake. But they could never agree on the right amount of ingredients to put, and where Francis had said that it's sweet, Alfred thought it not sweet enough.

When they've finally grown frustrated with each other, Francis had demanded, "Call your friends over. We need second opinion."

So Alfred stalked out of the kitchen, grumbling, and went to the living room, whipping his cell phone out, and dialing Kiku's number. After a few rings, Kiku answered with a soft, "_Hello?_"

"Hey, Kiku! Can you come over to Francis'? We're baking my cake and we need second opinion."

It took Kiku a few seconds before he sadly answered, "_I'm sorry, Alfred-kun, but my mother and I are going to the grocery to prepare for Christmas._"

Alfred slumped forward with disappointment. "Aw. Well, have fun with your mom."

He dialed for Feliciano next and it took Alfred a second try before the Italian answered, "_Ciao_!"

"Hey Feli. Can you come over to Francis'? We're baking my cake and we need second opinion."

"_Oh, sorry, Alfie, I can't._" At least Feliciano sounded disappointed. "_My older brother, Lovi, has come home for Christmas and we're going out to dinner right now._"

"Oh. Well, that's okay. Have fun!"

He called for Ludwig next, and when the German answered, he asked the same question.

"_Who's going to be there?_" Ludwig asked.

"Well, Kiku is going grocery shopping and Feli is going to dinner with his family, so just you, me, and Francis."

Ludwig sighed. "_Sorry, Alfred. I have a stomach ache._" And click.

Alfred gaped at his cell phone for a second, wondering if Ludwig had just really obviously lied to him and hung up on him. But, well, Ludwig hated to be at Francis', so maybe his actions were just slightly acceptable.

He shrugged and searched for Matthew's number. The Canadian was his only hope now. He dialed the number and listened to the rings as he swore to himself that he'd just drag one of them over if he had to.

The call connected and Matthew's soft voice answered, "_Hello?_"

"Hi, Mattie!" Alfred cheerfully greeted and posed the same question.

"_Will the others be there?_" Matthew asked.

Alfred hesitated. What if Matthew does the same thing Ludwig did? "Uh, no. The others are busy. Please, Matt, you have to help! You're my only hope now! Please, come over?" He hoped that his puppy-eyes worked through his voice.

"_Oh. Well. Okay, then._"

Alfred gasped happily. "Thanks, Matt! You're a lifesaver! You know how to come here, right?"

"_Yeah._" Matthew answered, and with a grateful thanks, Alfred hung up.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and Alfred was going to go open the door, hoping it was Matthew. But Francis beat him to it, and the Frenchman opened the door with a wide smile. "Welcome, _Matthieu_! Come in, come in!"

Matthew stepped in, his cheeks pink with embarrassment. "H-Hello." But he flamed when Francis took his face between his hands and kissed his cheeks.

"Hey, Matt! Thanks so much for coming!" Alfred greeted, going over and pulling Matthew out of Francis' grasp, leading him to the kitchen. "We really need your help. Francis and I cannot decide which one tastes best!"

When the cakes finally came into sight, Matthew's eyes widened that they looked like they're going to spill out. "W-Wha…"

"Please taste each one of them, Matt! Then tell us which one tastes the best." Alfred said.

Matthew stepped forward and looked at all the green and red cakes. "These are… edible, right?"

"Why, of course they are, _petit_!" Francis answered from the kitchen doorway where he leaned, arms crossed. "Do not fret. Thankfully, Alfred had not received the cooking skills of his guardian." Alfred laughed.

Matthew was given a fork and the Canadian tasted each of the cake. He then told Alfred which one tasted best for him and both Alfred and Francis took a bite of said cake.

"Hm, yeah, I guess this is good." Alfred agreed. Francis only shrugged, not offering a comment. "I want to try making this again, see if I get it right."

The telephone rang, and Francis looked out the kitchen doorway. "You can go ahead and try to remake it, Alfred. Let _Matthieu_ help you." He winked at the Canadian before he went to answer the telephone.

Alfred set to gathering ingredients to remake his cake. He frowned when he realized he didn't have enough eggs and sugar. "Matt, can you get me some eggs, please? Thanks." He bent down over the counter in search for more sugar.

He realized too late that Francis had two refrigerators, one filled with nothing but blood. He paled and looked over his shoulder to tell Matthew which refrigerator he should open. "Matt-"

Matthew gasped and froze in front of the open refrigerator. His violet eyes were wide behind his glasses and his mouth hung open.

Alfred slowly stood, feeling choked up as he found that Matthew had opened the wrong refrigerator. "I can explain."

* * *

_TBC_


	5. Chapter 5

_Previously__:_

Alfred realized too late that Francis had two refrigerators, one filled with the sweet, dark liquid of their being. He paled and looked over his shoulder to tell Matthew which refrigerator he should open. "Matt—"

Matthew gasped and froze in front of the open refrigerator. His violet eyes were wide behind his glasses and his mouth hung open. "Wha- what..."

"I can explain."

But Matthew wasn't listening, and a trail of drool was already on its way from falling off his open mouth. "M-Mapple..."

* * *

_A/N: Just Kidding! I was just wondering how it would turn out if those blood bags were actually maple syrup and Matthew found them. Yeah, I'm weird, I know. Anyways! One more chapter and we're at the end of the First Half! I won't be putting the Second Half on a separate title because that'd be too much of a hassle and too confusing._

_As always, thank you so much for the reviews and follows and favorites! I'm thrilled to know what you thought of the chapter! Read on, and enjoy!_

* * *

_New York, 2003_

_"I can't believe you did that, Alfred! What were you thinking?!"_

_ Alfred cringed at Arthur's yelling and bit on his lower lip to stop himself from crying. He never did like it when Arthur was angry at him. "I-I'm sorry, Artie. I-I didn't mean it."_

_ "That's what you always say! Why, pray tell, did you bite a classmate?! Bite, Alfred! They could've found us out!" Arthur gestured with his hands in the air as he paced back and forth in front of Alfred._

_ "I-I couldn't help it. I… I was really hungry and-and I co-could hear the blood running in her hand." During lunch that noon, Alfred was with his friends as always, and he felt hungry even after he drank all the blood he had in his container. Unable to control himself, he bit a friend on the wrist, which caused that friend to cry, and the grown-ups to separate them._

_ Arthur stopped on his pacing and looked at Alfred with an eyebrow raised. "Are you telling me that the blood I've packed for you was not enough?"_

_ Alfred quickly shook his head. "N-No, that's not it! I just… just really got hungry after I drank everything in the bottle."_

_ The silence that followed was heavy and Alfred feared that he may have said something wrong. He took a peek up at Arthur to see his expression and was relieved that Arthur did not look that angry anymore. He just had a really thoughtful look on his face._

_ After a little while, Arthur sighed and kneeled in front of Alfred. "Al, tell me the truth." He said in a gentle voice that assured Alfred that Arthur was not angry anymore. "Do you still feel hungry even when you drink blood in the morning, noon, and night?"_

_ Alfred stared at Arthur's curious face for awhile before nodding._

_ "Oh, then I guess I'm not giving you the right amount of blood now." Arthur raised a hand to cup Alfred's cheek and he smiled apologetically. "Sorry, love." And he kissed Alfred's forehead. When he drew back though, he gave Alfred a stern look. "But you still have to be careful. You can't bite anyone, no matter what. Just tell me when you're still hungry next time."_

_ Alfred nodded enthusiastically and Arthur ruffled his hair as the man stood up._

_ Arthur went to the telephone and dialed a number. After a few seconds, he sneered, "Frog, I need more blood supply. Alfred's appetite has increased and we don't have enough blood."_

_oOo_

_ Arthur led Francis into the living room and the Frenchman quickly looked around. "And where's your little garçon?" He asked._

_ "Sleeping." Arthur replied and plopped down on the couch._

_ Francis did the same and sat across Arthur, looking at him with a smirk. "So, you wanted to ask something, mon ami?"_

_ Arthur glared at him and curled his lip in disgust. "Wipe that smirk off your face, frog." His expression relaxed a bit and morphed into concern. "It's about Alfred."_

_ Francis sighed. "Of course, what else is new? What about him?"_

_ Arthur looked at the staircase first and listened, making sure that Alfred was in bed, before turning back to Francis and clasping his hands together. "It's strange, Francis. I've already increased Alfred's blood supply three times more than before but he still gets hungry. I don't understand. Vampire children don't consume as much blood as an adult."_

_ "Maybe that's the problem." Francis said and Arthur raised a brow at him. "You keep forgetting, mon ami, that Alfred is only a half-vampire." Arthur glared at him and glanced worriedly at the staircase. Francis rolled his eyes. "He ought to know. Anyway, maybe he keeps getting hungry because you're not feeding his human side."_

_ Arthur scowled. "I am feeding his human side. I have to. Other people will start to suspect if Alfred just drinks something for lunch. So I pack him a sandwich or bake him some scones for school."_

_ Francis wrinkled his nose. "You feed him those… those garbage?" He sighed dramatically and ignored Arthur's growl. "Maybe that's why you can't satisfy his hunger, mon cher. You have to give him real human food."_

_ "And you think that you know about real human foods?"_

_ "But of course!" Francis proudly exclaimed. "I've started cooking and baking on the side to kill some time, and I've gotten quiet good at it, if I may say so myself." He leaned close to Arthur and grinned. "If you let me live here with you and Alfred, I can cook the meals of your beloved garçon."_

_ Arthur's face twisted with disgust. "No, thank you. I don't want the neighbors to think us a gay couple with an adopted child."_

_ "What's so wrong about that?"_

_ "First of all, our society might accept homosexual relationships, but the human society, with all their narrow-mindedness, does not. Alfred will go through suffering if people think he has gay parents. Secondly, I don't want people to think that I'm associated with you in any way, shape or form."_

_ Francis brought a hand to his chest as he made a shocked face. "You wound me, Arthur! Can't you see that we're a match made in heaven?" He laughed when Arthur started making barfing sounds. "Anyway, since you refuse my wonderful offer of cooking skills, I advise that you start feeding Alfred meat."_

_ "Meat?" Arthur repeated curiously._

_ "Indeed. I found that it fills the human stomach quiet easily. And it'll be fine if you cook it halfway, just don't burn it. You, with your poor cooking skills, should at least be able to cook meat."_

_ "My cooking skills are just fine!"_

_ "That, mon ami, is a lie." He quickly raised a hand to stop Arthur from arguing back. "If that was all, mon cher, how about you offer me a drink? I must at least get something out of this visit."_

_ Arthur stood up from his seat and headed for the kitchen. "You get my money all the time."_

_ "Which I have no need for."_

_ Arthur stopped right at the doorway of the kitchen and turned back at Francis with a smirk. "I entertain you all the time."_

_ Francis returned the smirk, his eyes darkening a shade. "That, I can't argue with."_

* * *

_Toronto 2012, Winter_

"Wha- what…" Matthew kept opening and closing his mouth, but his words refused to come out. He stared wide-eyed at the stacks of blood packets, making the refrigerator glow in red.

Alfred swallowed and attempted to explain coolly, but failed miserably. "M-My guardian and Francis own a hospital, Matt, so… so they sometimes keep some blood here…?" That wasn't exactly a lie, Arthur and Francis really did own a hospital. He just hoped Matthew bought that lame-ass excuse.

Matthew just continued staring while Alfred was twisting his fingers together, biting on his lower lip nervously, waiting for a reaction. Finally, Matthew closed his mouth and slowly turned to Alfred, his expression shocked but not scared. "Alfred…" he breathed out after awhile, and Alfred's breath hitched. "A-Are you a v-vampire? A half-blood vampire?"

Alfred would have automatically denied that and spouted out some more excuses, but then Matthew's last question stopped him. He was surprised, of course, curious, but hope also started budding in him. "H-How do you know that?"

The Canadian just stared at him for a moment, violet eyes still wide, and he was nibbling on his lower lip with hesitance. Then he breathed in deeply and said, "I am a half-blood too."

The shock made Alfred gasp, but that wasn't it alone. There was also the hope, the wishful thinking, that maybe… just maybe…

Francis suddenly entered and the two of them looked at him. His eyes scanned their expressions questioningly before they landed on the open refrigerator. His face went blank and he looked between Matthew and Alfred again. "What happened here?"

The two looked at one another but neither of them was able to answer immediately. They didn't know what to say. Until Alfred finally caught a line of thought and he started, "Matthew's a half-blood vampire too, Francis." He swallowed. "H-He's… he could be… he might be…"

"Your brother?" Francis finished for him, one eyebrow raised.

Alfred nodded, and regarded Francis with confusion. The Frenchman didn't sound all that surprised at all. Unless… Alfred's eyes widened. "Did you know?"

Francis shrugged. "No. But we assumed."

"'_We_'?" Alfred repeated, feeling suspicious and slightly angry now. "You mean you and Arthur?"

Francis wasn't able to reply because Matthew had let out a sound and brought up a hand to his mouth with disbelief. "No. I can't believe it. We… we were so s-sure that you were d-dead." He whispered.

"We thought that you're dead too." Francis countered calmly. He leaned against the doorway and crossed his arms, assuming his previous position before he left earlier. "We were sure that the hunters would kill you."

Matthew looked genuinely confused and shocked. "Why would they kill me? We're family!"

"Wait, what's going on?" Alfred interjected, looking between the two. "What are you two talking about?"

The two looked at Alfred and fell silent. They looked like they didn't know what to say, or where to start. But after Matthew's fidgeting, he finally started explaining, "Our mother, Martha, came from a family of hunters."

Alfred's suspicions cleared upon hearing that name. They really were brothers. But then, he gasped with surprise. Arthur had always told him that the hunters were evil, and he believed that. And now, he's told that he actually came from a family of hunters?

"Our mother met a vampire who took great interest in her." Matthew continued. "And that vampire im-impregnated her with u-us. Mother decided to keep us and when she finally gave birth to us, the vampires came and kidnapped her." Francis frowned at that. "Our grandparents chased after them, of course, but when they found mother…" Matthew choked up and looked down on the ground.

Alfred swallowed, knowing what Matthew was going to say next, but asking anyway, "What happened?"

Matthew blinked rapidly before looking up at Alfred with grieving eyes. "She was d-dead. She had been d-drained of b-blood, and… and it was the vampire, Arthur Kirkland, who k-killed her."

It took a moment before that registered in Alfred's mind, and another gasp left him when it did, this time with disbelief. "No." he whispered, unsure that he heard correctly. "No. No. Arthur wouldn't do that. He wouldn't." But Arthur hated humans. Arthur didn't care if humans got hurt. Arthur never cared for humans and only saw them as his food. "No. No. He wouldn't."

Matthew looked confused with Alfred's reaction at first, until realization dawned on him and he paled. He went closer to Alfred and grasped his arms. "Your guardian… it's not Arthur Kirkland, is it?"

Alfred looked at Matthew, and the answer was potent in his eyes.

"No." Matthew uttered, fear but also confusion evident in his eyes. "No, that can't be. He should've killed you."

"What do you mean?" Alfred managed to inquire.

Matthew let go of him, his eyes boring into Alfred's thoughtfully and confusedly. "After killing our mother, Arthur Kirkland wanted to take us. But our grandfather managed to take me from him, and grandpa was sure that he wanted to take us to kill us."

Alfred was also feeling confused now, apart from his shock that Arthur killed his mother. He decided to ignore that information for now as he was still struggling to believe that. What if the hunters were only fooling Matthew? "Why didn't he kill me?"

They fell into silence without an answer to that question. Alfred remembered seconds later that Francis was with them, and he looked up at the Frenchman hopefully for answers. "Francis, is Mattie telling me the truth about our parents? Did Arthur really k-kill our mother? Did he really want to kill Mattie and me when he took us?"

Francis only regarded them silently for a second, his expression serious. Then he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Alfred, why don't you go home and ask Arthur for clarification about that?" Alfred was about to protest when Francis held up a hand and continued, "I'm sure he'll tell you now, now that you know about it."

Alfred hesitated before nodding, and he turned to Matthew. "Matt, I'll… I'll call you. I'll call you after I talk to Arthur."

Matthew looked alarmed hearing that, and he grabbed at Alfred's arm. "But what if he hurts you? What if… what if when he knows that you know, he'll hurt you?"

Alfred considered that and actually hesitated. But he couldn't imagine Arthur hurting him, no, Arthur would never hurt him, and he decided to trust that. "He wouldn't hurt me, Matt." He replied firmly to assure his brother. "He wouldn't. I'll call you."

"But he killed our mother, Alfred!" Matthew insisted, his eyes screaming worry, and he was starting to tear up. "And we just found each other too. I can't lose you now."

"He really won't hurt me, Matt." Alfred repeated, trying to convince himself too. "Just, believe me."

Matthew stared at him for a second before reluctantly letting go of him. "Call me if he tries anything. I'll help you."

Alfred nodded and then turned to Francis who just watched them. He fidgeted and cautiously asked, "You wouldn't… hurt Mattie while I'm gone, are you? You won't do anything?"

Francis raised an eyebrow at that, a corner of his lips quirking up in a smirk. "What, you really think I'll do that?"

Alfred quickly shook his head. "No, no. I'm just… just making sure. You won't call Arthur to tell him anything before I arrive in the house, right?"

"Ah, how suspicious you've become of us!" Francis exclaimed, bringing a hand up to his chest. "And to think that we're the ones who raised you."

Alfred looked down guiltily, scolding himself internally. Francis was right, they were the ones who raised him. Arthur raised him with much love and care, he should believe in them more. "I'm sorry. I just… I don't know. I'm going to go clear things up with Arthur."

Francis snickered but his expression softened into a smile soon after. "I really do want you to know the truth, _mon garçon_. The truth from Arthur."

"Yeah." Alfred agreed and looked at them both. "I'm going. I'll call you, Matt."

Matthew nodded. "Please."

Alfred exited the kitchen and made his way out of Francis' house.

oOo

Nervousness was pumping through Alfred as he opened the front door and entered the house. He removed his shoes and jacket and went in, looking around for his guardian. "Artie?"

Arthur came out of the kitchen with a tray of tea and snacks. He looked surprised when he saw Alfred, and he made a quick glance at the clock. "Alfred, you're early today." He continued on his way towards the coffee table of the living room and put the tray down. "How was your baking lessons with that frog?"

Alfred had frozen solid right by the doorway of the living room upon seeing Arthur. The things that Matthew had told him raced in his mind, and he struggled to keep a calm, composed façade. He could feel the cold sweat breaking out of his forehead and his palm, and he couldn't stop himself from fidgeting. "A-Artie?"

"Hm?" Arthur briefly looked up at him from taking out his tea set and snacks from the tray to the table. "What are you doing, just standing there? Come sit, love."

That's when Alfred realized that he didn't know what to say. Where should he start, how should he ask? He couldn't just go ahead and blurt out, "Did you kill my parents?" that'd just be stupid, no matter how much he wanted to just go ahead and say that anyway.

When he made no move, Arthur looked up at him again then frowned. "Alfred, you look pale. Are you feeling ill?" He left the table and walked to Alfred, bringing a hand up to his face. Somehow, the genuine worry that Arthur was displaying made it much harder for Alfred to believe Matthew's words. He knew that Arthur sincerely loved him. There was no way Arthur killed his parents.

"I know." Alfred whispered, his eyes on his guardian.

Arthur looked at him with confusion, asking, "Know what?"

Alfred took a big gulp of air, closing his eyes for a second, before staring straight into Arthur's questioning green eyes. "Matthew's my b-brother."

Much like Francis earlier, Arthur's expression blanked out, and that told Alfred that they really knew beforehand. It suddenly angered him to think that they didn't tell him, that Arthur didn't say anything, and he remembered the first time he mentioned Matthew to Arthur. Arthur wanted him away from Matthew, why was that?

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked, but he wasn't asking because he didn't know. He was just trying to feign ignorance, but he wouldn't fool Alfred.

"Don't pretend that you don't know!" Alfred exclaimed, the anger getting to him. "You _knew_! You knew even that first time I mentioned Mattie to you! And you wanted me away from him! Why is that? Why were you trying to keep me away from my own brother?"

Arthur had gone paler than he already was, and he backed away a few steps from Alfred. "How did… what… Did Francis tell you?" he growled out the last part.

"No!" Alfred quickly answered. "I called Mattie to help us, and he accidentally discovered that we're vampires when he opened the wrong refrigerator! But then he said that he's a half-blood vampire too, like _me_, and he told me… he told me… about our parents…"

Arthur's eyes widened, and he was as white as a sheet of paper. "What did he tell you?"

Alfred swallowed again, and he blinked back the water that had threatened to gather in his eyes. He never tore his gaze away from Arthur's face, determined to find out if Arthur would be honest with him. "He said that… that you… you k-killed our parents. That you d-drained our mother of b-blood."

The Brit seemed to have frozen in place, eyes wide, face pale, unmoving. He only stared at Alfred, and it even seemed like he wasn't even breathing.

"It's a lie, right?" Alfred desperately asked. "You didn't actually do that, right? You wouldn't do that, no, you won't." After all, would Arthur always look so broken whenever his parents were mentioned if he's the one who killed them? "The hunters were only lying to Mattie, right?"

"The hunters?" That seemed to have snapped Arthur out of his daze, and his expression hardened.

"Mattie said our mother was from a family of hunters. He said that you wanted to take me and Mattie to k-kill us, but our grandfather managed to take him. They raised him."

Arthur's whole demeanor changed, and he looked rather panicked. "We must get out of here. We need to leave before they find us." He started to turn away from Alfred, but he was stopped by the younger man's hand on his arm.

"We are not leaving!" Alfred firmly stated. His blood started to boil once more, and he turned Arthur to face him fully. "You haven't even told me anything yet! What about Mattie? He's my brother!"

"That doesn't matter!" Arthur shouted, ripping his arm out of Alfred's hold. "He's with the hunters, Alfred! So what if he's your brother, what matters right now is our safety! I won't let them take you away from me too! You're the only one I have now!"

Alfred was, to say the least, surprised of Arthur's outburst. No matter what they have dealt with in the past, Arthur had never lost his composure so much. He always seemed so controlled. "Please, Arthur, just… just answer my question. Was Mattie telling me the truth?"

Arthur stilled and looked into Alfred's eyes with a desperation of his own. Alfred saw a glimpse of the pain behind Arthur's green, guarded eyes, and it hurt him to have brought such pain in him.

Finally, Arthur took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was back to his composed self, but it seemed like that pain, Arthur couldn't even cover. "Yes. Matthew is you brother. Yes." His voice broke, and so did his expression, his eyes filling up with tears. He looked away from Alfred, almost guiltily. "Yes, I d-drank all of M-Martha's blood."

When those words had finally registered in Alfred's brain, it took his all to stop himself from screaming, and flinging himself to his guardian. Instead, he just stood there, staring at Arthur who had his head turned away from him in _guilt_. He felt so betrayed, and all his respect for this man standing in front of him had all gone down the drain.

"B-But I didn't mean… I didn't…" Arthur had turned his head back to look at Alfred, but his words trailed off at the sight of his expression. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and tried again, "I didn't m-mean to k-kill her. The hunters… they…"

This was probably the first- and perhaps only- time that Alfred had seen Arthur look so weak and fragile. So _human_. He couldn't even conceal the grief that had shown itself on his expression, nor could he keep the tears from spilling from his eyes. But this display of weakness, Alfred couldn't even feel bad for him. He, too, was consumed in his own emotions.

"I'm leaving." It surprised Alfred how calm that had sounded, and how he was even capable of saying it without stuttering. He turned away from Arthur and walked towards the front door, when a hand grabbed his arm.

"No!" Arthur cried desperately. "You won't leave me! I won't let them take you away from me! They've already taken—"

Alfred roughly pulled away from Arthur's hand, and looked at him with glare. "I'm leaving to go to my _real_ family."

A pang of guilt made Alfred's heart ache, especially when Arthur's eyes widened and the tears begun to flow freely. But he brushed it aside, and determinedly headed straight towards the front door, and out into the open.

Arthur did not chase after him as Alfred began walking and then sprinting aimlessly. He thanked the cold air for drying his tears even before they fell, and for once, he appreciated winter.

Without even knowing it, his feet had led him back to Francis' house, and as always, he let himself in, and he found Francis and Matthew at the living room.

Upon noticing him, Francis and Matthew looked up at him and stood. Francis was expressionless while Matthew looked worried.

"Alfred? What happened?" His brother asked.

Alfred didn't reply and only walked to Matthew, pulling him into a tight hug. Matthew stiffened, but relaxed after a few seconds, and hugged him back.

It warmed Alfred's heart to be hugging his brother, his family, but there was still the throbbing pain in his chest that didn't go away. He buried his face in Matthew's neck, closing his eyes tightly to stop the tears from coming, because no, he was not sad at all to be departing from the murderer of his mother. His arms tightened around Matthew.

After awhile of just standing there, Matthew finally patted Alfred's back, and called out, "Alfred?"

Alfred pulled away from his brother, and forced a happy smile. "Bring me home, Matt. I want to meet our family."

Matthew obviously had questions but he just nodded and agreed with a smile of his own. "Yes. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to know that you're alive."

When they turned to Francis, Alfred thought that he would stop him. But he just sadly smiled at them, and walked them out to the door.

There wasn't much fuss at all when they turned to leave. Francis didn't even ask him a single question. When Alfred had straightened up from putting on his shoes, the Frenchman was still only smiling at him, as if he already knew what happened.

"Francis—" Alfred started, but Francis raised a hand to stop him. He smirked, but there was the sadness behind it.

"Do you see now, _mon cher_? You changed your mind."

Alfred only looked at him with confusion at first, until he remembered the talk that they had some time ago, and he felt a small anger bubbling in him. He hated that he was proving Francis right, but how could he still stay with Arthur after what he'd learned?

"Alfred?" Matthew called out, already outside. "Let's go."

They walked out, and Francis stayed by the front door, waving at them. "Yet, you still don't know everything."

Alfred whipped his head back at Francis, only to find that Francis had already gone back inside and closed the door. He turned his head back to look at the road he and Matthew were walking on, a scowl on his face. What else was there to know?

* * *

_TBC_


	6. Chapter 6: First Half End

_A/N: Here's the end of the First Half! I apologize for the shortness of it, but it's some kind of closure so it wasn't going to be very long in the first place. Read on and Enjoy! Warning: VERY LONG A/N AT THE END ;n;_

* * *

_New York, 2005_

_ Alfred stopped eating in the middle of his meal to look at Arthur who was nibbling on a scone. "Artie? I have a question."_

_ Arthur briefly glanced up at him and continued eating. "Hm?"_

_ "Are you my daddy?"_

_ Arthur choked on the scone and quickly picked up his tea to drink. "N-No." He answered, then took another gulp of tea._

_ "Is Francis my daddy?"_

_ Arthur spat out his tea, and it ran from his mouth to his chin, down to his suit. "No! God, no!" He exclaimed as he took a napkin and dabbed on his mouth and chin and suit. "Where in the world did you get that idea from?"_

_ Alfred ignored that rhetorical question and tilted his head to the side curiously. "Then who are my parents?"_

_ Arthur stopped his movements and seemed to freeze for a second before he continued to clean away the tea and put the napkin down the table. He just stared down at the table for a few seconds before he looked at Alfred with an unreadable expression. "Your parents are dead, Alfred."_

_ That took a little bit of time to sink into Alfred, and as it did, his eyes widened in sadness. "D-Dead?"_

_ Arthur stood up from his seat and went over to Alfred. "Come with me, Al." He said softly and took Alfred's hand when he got out of his chair. The Brit led the boy to the living room and he sat down on the couch, then lifted Alfred to sit him on his lap. "Listen to me, Al."_

_ Alfred nodded and shifted on Arthur's lap so that he was sitting sideways and was looking up at the Brit._

_ Arthur paused, just staring at Alfred, then took a deep breath and started. "Your parents, Al, were killed by the hunters." He slowly and softly explained. "The hunters are humans who kills vampires. They kill us because they think that we're monsters, but we're nothing like that. We're not monsters. They are the monsters. You understand that, don't you, Alfred?"_

_ Alfred nodded again, blue eyes filling up with tears._

_ "They killed you parents, for reasons that you won't be able to understand yet." Arthur continued, stroking Alfred's hair to comfort him. "When you've grown enough for you to understand, I'll tell you everything. But right now, just remember, it's dangerous for the humans to know about us because they'll kill us. So you can't tell or show anyone that we're different, am I understood?"_

_ "I understand, Artie." Alfred replied, tears running down his cheeks._

_ Arthur wiped them away and hugged him tight and close. "You're a good boy, Alfred. You're smart. So don't worry. I won't ever leave you. I'll always protect you, love."_

_ Alfred nodded and closed his eyes, taking comfort in Arthur's warm embrace._

_oOo_

_ Arthur gasped the moment he saw Alfred._

_ The boy's cheek was red and swelling and his clothes were dirty and tattered. He looked an absolute mess, and his expression was angry, defiant, brows drawn together tightly and lips pressed together on a tight line._

_ "Alfred, love, what happened to you?" Arthur asked, running to the boy quickly and checking him for more injuries. He looked at the swelling on the boy's cheek, concern and worry evident on his face. "Who did this to you?" He asked gently, raising a hand and carefully touching the swell._

_ Alfred flinched at the touch, and brushed Arthur's hand aside. "I got in a fight." He answered._

_ Arthur's eyes hardened a little, but his concern was still more prominent. "Who did you get in a fight with? What happened?"_

_ Anger rose even more in Alfred's eyes and he stomped his foot. "My classmates. They were making fun of me, Artie! They called me a freak for not having parents! They said that no one loves me, and that you were only probably forced to take care of me! They said that you don't love me!"_

_ Arthur's eyes widened at that, and he took Alfred's hands to his own. "Alfred, you don't believe them, do you? Of course I love you. You're not a freak, and I was never forced to take care of you. You believe me, don't you?"_

_ Alfred's angry expression turned sad, and he squeezed Arthur's hands hard. "I believe you, Artie. But why don't I have parents? Why did they… they-" he choked up and squeaked the last word, "die?"_

_ Arthur's expression also morphed into grief and he stared at the boy for a second before he gently pulled Alfred to himself and enveloped him in a hug. Alfred's arms automatically went around him. "Oh, Alfred, I'm so sorry you have to go through this. But I cannot tell you, not now. It'll be too much. Perhaps when you're older, I'll tell you. But love, just keep in mind that I love you. You have me. And that's all that matters."_

_ The boy's little arms tightened around Arthur and he buried his face in the Brit's neck. "I don't wanna be with these humans, Artie. I wanna be with the other vampires. I hate humans."_

_ Arthur breathed in at that and started to stroke Alfred's hair. "I understand, love. But we can't leave. We can't be with the other vampires right now. But when you're older, I'm going to introduce you to the others. I promise." He slowly pulled back to look at Alfred in the eyes. "Please, endure it for now, all right?"_

_ Alfred didn't look all too willing as he nodded his head in agreement. "Okay."_

_ The Brit gave him a smile and kissed his forehead. "Now come, we must attend to your injuries."_

_ Before Arthur could stand upright and go to get his first aid kit, Alfred pulled on his shirt. "Artie?" the boy looked up at him with wide blue eyes. "I'm sorry for getting in a fight."_

_ Arthur smiled again and ruffled his hair. "It was reasonable, Alfred. I'm glad you're not letting those humans bully you. If they do it again, then you may hurt them all you want."_

_ Alfred brightened up and he grinned. "Yeah!"_

* * *

_Toronto, 2012 Winter_

Alfred didn't know what to expect when Matthew had brought him to his house. Everything still felt surreal to him, unreal, and it was as if all the feelings had been drained of him. He suddenly felt tired and spent, and he just wanted to sleep. He couldn't even bring himself to feel as excited as he thought he would be for finally meeting his family. His _real_ family.

It was obvious though that Matthew felt the excitement Alfred should have also been feeling. He tried to hold it back, but there was the bounce in his every step, the smile that never went, and when he opened the door, he happily led Alfred in.

"Grandma! Grandpa! Aunt E! Gil!" He called out as they shed their jackets and shoes by the foyer. He then led Alfred into the living room, where a middle-aged woman looked up at them from knitting what looked like a scarf, her blonde hair pulled back into a bun, and her dark blue eyes that were identical to Matthew's regarded them with curiosity.

She put her unfinished scarf down on the couch and stood up, walking to Matthew, and looking at Alfred, her eyes lightening up with interest. "Matthew? Who is this with you?" Her accent was different than Matthew's, in fact, she had the same accent as Arthur. Only, Arthur's accent was much thicker.

Matthew smiled widely and only replied, "Let's wait for the others to come down here first. I'll tell you everything then."

A woman then came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. Her long brown hair was pinned back on one side, keeping them out of her face. Upon seeing Alfred, her green eyes widened, and she walked to them, standing beside the older woman. She ran her eyes over Alfred's person then looked at Matthew. "This is?"

There was the sound of feet running down the stairs and then a man emerged and made his way to them. His appearance kind of surprised Alfred, and he wondered if the man was albino. He had a head of platinum hair, and he reminded Alfred of Arthur's pale skin. When his crimson red eyes landed on Alfred, his eyebrows shot up and then he smirked.

Alfred was starting to get rather uncomfortable from all the staring the three adults were giving him, until they heard the back door open, and another man came striding in. He was an intimidating man, big in size, and Alfred could tell that they were all muscles. It was clear that he was the man of the house with the way he walked, and Alfred swallowed when those cold gray eyes made contact with his blues.

With so many eyes on him, Alfred suddenly felt nervous, and he wondered if this was really his family.

The middle-aged woman looked around them, and seeing as everyone was already around, she prompted Matthew, "So? Who is this?"

A big smile bloomed on Matthew's face, and he looked almost like he's going to cry. "This is Alfred. He's… he's my brother. He's not dead."

The surprise was evident on all of their faces, except the albino man. He looked more thoughtful rather than surprised.

"That's…" The older woman breathed, bringing up a hand to her mouth. Tears had begun to gather in her eyes, and she looked at Alfred from head to toe. "That's… oh…"

"Are you really?" The brown-haired woman asked with disbelief but with hope. "So you're… you're a vampire too?"

Alfred nodded, unsure of what to do. "Yeah. A half-blood."

"Oh, I'm so glad!" The older woman suddenly exclaimed, and she moved forward to envelope Alfred into a hug. "I am so glad that you're alive!" She pulled back and held Alfred's face in her hands, smiling at him happily with tears in her eyes. "Oh, we were so sure you were dead."

It felt strange to Alfred. Strange but pleasant to have this woman, this _human_, hug him tightly and look at him with love. He couldn't help but stare at her because she was family, related to him by blood, and not Arthur. She was family, but her hug felt different, and she looked at him the same way Arthur did, but she wasn't Arthur. It made him glad, but at the same time, there was something else lurking that was making his chest heavy and ache, and not from happiness.

Matthew placed a hand on Alfred's shoulder, and Alfred turned his head to look at him, the older woman drawing farther back, and resuming her place beside the brown-haired woman.

"This is your family, Alfred." Matthew said, smiling at him widely with happy tears in his eyes. "We are your family."

Alfred's lips stretched into a smile, although not his full-blown happy grin. "Yeah."

They both turned back to the adults, and Matthew introduced them. "This is our grandmother Mary." He gestured to the older woman who was wiping at her tears but giving Alfred a smile. "And our Grandfather Thomas." He gestured to the gray-eyed man who only stared at Alfred. "This is our Aunt Elizaveta. She's our mom's sister." He indicated to the brown-haired woman who was now smiling at Alfred. "And that's Gilbert. He's a half-blood like us." Alfred looked over at the albino man with surprise. He had this nagging feeling at the back of his mind that he was forgetting something, but he couldn't quiet place what. Gilbert raised a hand in greeting and smirked at him.

Elizaveta then stepped forward and also took Alfred's face in her hands. "Oh, Alfred, is it? Where have you been all this time? We thought you've been killed!" Alfred noticed that her accent was different from Mary's or Matthew's, but he couldn't quiet place what it was.

Alfred shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to say. He glanced over at Matthew for help.

Matthew's expression turned solemn, but thoughtful. "He was… He has been with Arthur all this time."

"What?" The two women exclaimed, their eyes darting over to Matthew, and Elizaveta let go of Alfred. Her expression turned sour, as their grandfather frowned. "Arthur? You're not talking about Arthur Kirkland?"

Matthew nodded. "I'm talking about Arthur Kirkland."

Mary gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "But I thought… we thought that…"

"Arthur didn't kill my brother after all."

Alfred slightly jumped in shock when Thomas suddenly stomped to him, his expression stony, eyes cold. He was a few inches taller than Alfred, so Alfred had to stop himself from quivering in fright as he looked up at his grandfather.

"Where is he?" He growled in a low, menacing voice, his accent just like Mary's. "Where is Arthur Kirkland?"

"I-I… wha… I-" Alfred couldn't quiet bring himself to say it, whether it was from the intimidation of his grandfather, or because he didn't want these hunters to know where Arthur was. "What are you going to do to him?" he squeaked out.

Elizaveta stepped up beside Thomas and she looked at Alfred with understanding but with hopelessness. "Oh, Alfred. We understand that you must've grown attached to him as he was the one who raised you, but darling, he killed your mother! He robbed you and Matthew your true mother, and he should at least pay for that!"

"B-But he… I don't…"

"Tell me where he is, boy." Thomas demanded with authority in his voice.

In the end, Alfred blurted out Arthur's address, and everyone dispersed into preparation. Mary stayed though, and gave Alfred a squeeze on the arm. "You did the right thing." She told him with a grateful smile, and she, too, walked away.

Alfred and Matthew only stood in the living room awkwardly until Gilbert walked by and stopped to look at them. He raised an eyebrow. "You guys wanna come too?" He asked, his own accent different from the others. What was with these people with different accents?

Matthew looked up at Alfred and bit on his lower lip worriedly before asking, "Alfred, do you want to go with them?"

Alfred didn't even have to think about it, and he nodded. "Yeah."

Gilbert smirked at them again then gestured at them to follow after him. The three of them headed out into the garage where Thomas was dumping stuff inside the trunk of a van. He looked up at them when they entered and narrowed his eyes at them.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"We're going with you, grandpa." Matthew answered, and it amazed Alfred a bit how unfazed Matthew seemed to be of Thomas' intimidation. It must be because he grew up with him.

"No, you're not." Thomas said.

"I don't see why not." Gilbert piped in, walking to a black Ducati. Alfred's eyes lit up when he saw it.

Thomas was just about to retort when Elizaveta walked in with a few equipments, one of them being a shot gun that made Alfred's eyes widen. She had changed out of her apron and dress into a fitting black leather suit. "Let them come, Father. Let them see Arthur Kirkland confess to his sins, see why Gilbert left their society, and see why we hunters exist."

Gilbert frowned at that, but Thomas seemed to have been convinced for he sighed. "Very well then. But they must be kept to safety when the fighting ensues."

"Oh, I'll keep them safe." Mary said as she walked in. She had also changed out of her dress into a slim fitting pants and a blouse. She looked much younger wearing it, and not at all like the sweet grandmother she had seemed to be when she had been sitting on the couch, knitting.

They all filed into the van except Gilbert, with Thomas and Mary at the front, and Matthew in between Elizaveta and Alfred at the back. Gilbert mounted the Ducati, and they all drove out of the driveway, and towards Arthur's house.

oOo

It felt like there was something heavy inside Alfred's chest that was making it hard for him to breathe when they had entered the neighborhood where Arthur lived. They parked the car a few houses down from Arthur's and Thomas started planning an attack with Mary and Elizaveta.

Their words had not registered in his mind because he was busy contemplating on whether or not he should stop them, because even though Arthur killed his mother, Arthur still raised him very well. Surely, that could be considered as _something_, and so maybe they shouldn't kill Arthur.

He had been debating over this the whole way there, and he had attempted to speak up a few times, only to clam up and shut his mouth with reasons he didn't quite know. He couldn't sit still, his hands were clammy with sweat, his stomach was churning in discomfort.

When Thomas suddenly turned to look at him and Matthew, he couldn't help slightly jumping from his seat in attention.

"The two of you are staying here with Mary." Thomas said. "She'll make sure that if Arthur Kirkland escapes us, then he wouldn't come attacking you two."

Matthew obediently nodded, but Alfred hesitated. He drew up the courage to finally speak up, no matter the consequences. "I-I'll come too!"

They all turned to look at him, the ladies and Matthew giving him sympathetic looks.

"You can't come." Thomas stated sternly. "If you do, Arthur Kirkland will surely go after you."

"B-But he's…" Alfred swallowed his nervousness and fear. "He raised me! I, at least, want to see him go. I left him feeling angry earlier. I think I should at least thank him for not killing me when he could."

They were quiet after his explanation, only staring at him, until Thomas glared at him and said, "Very well. But you cannot interfere. You'll have to wait until he's captured before you can go near him."

Alfred quickly nodded in agreement. "I understand."

After a little bit change of plan, they all got out of the car, and Alfred found Gilbert's Ducati parked just behind the van, but the rider was leaning beside the door of the van. Gilbert smirked at him upon seeing him but didn't say anything.

Elizaveta went to Gilbert and pulled him by the collar. She filled him in with the plan, and after a few more discussions, they finally walked to Arthur's house.

Alfred walked with Thomas towards the front door, but Elizaveta and Gilbert had gone somewhere else. According to what Alfred heard, they were going to try breaking in from the back so they could surround Arthur.

His heart had never beat so fast, and he'd never felt as nervous before, but Alfred tried to keep a composed face, and silently walked behind Thomas, towards the front door.

Upon reaching it, Thomas raised a hand and knocked loudly. They waited for a few minutes before he raised his hand again and knocked. But there was no answer, and Thomas knocked for a third time. When there was still no answer, Thomas' features scrunched up into a scowl, suspicion in his eyes, until realization seemed to dawn on him and he stepped back.

Alfred stepped aside, watching his grandfather curiously, confused of what was happening.

After taking a few steps back, Thomas suddenly launched unto the door and kicked it hard. The door broke under his feet and he briskly rushed inside.

Still feeling rather confused, Alfred followed after him and cautiously entered the familiar house. He watched his grandfather burst into every door, then going down the basement. He ignored Thomas' actions and headed for the living room, looking around.

The room was still the same, of course, everything was in their place. But Alfred suddenly frowned, feeling like there were things missing. His eyes lit up with realization when they landed upon the shelves where Arthur put decorations. The decorations were there, yes, but there were some empty spaces. And in those spaces, there should have been the picture frames of their pictures.

He looked at all the places all the pictures should have been and found that all of them were missing. With suspicion settling in his stomach now, he rushed up towards the second floor, and headed straight to Arthur's bedroom.

He slammed the door open and found the bedroom empty. It was clean, as it always was since Arthur was very orderly and neat, but it was suddenly _too_ clean. Arthur's desk was empty, his book shelves were empty, the pictures on the top of Arthur's drawers were missing, and his table side was empty. All of Arthur's personal things were missing, and the room looked unlived in.

Alfred ignored the constricting and throbbing in his chest and ran towards the closet. He opened it and just as he expected, most of Arthur's clothing weren't there.

After that, he went into his own room and found that only his pictures with Arthur were absent. The rest of his stuff, his clothes, his items were there. Arthur only took the pictures. He went into one of his shelves and pulled out a photo album then opened it. There wasn't a single picture with Arthur in there too.

A short frustrated scream made Alfred jump, and he turned his head towards the door. He left his room and ran down the stairs, into the living room, and found Thomas, Gilbert, and Elizaveta there. Elizaveta looked very frustrated that she looked like she almost wanted to pull on her hair, but she was instead biting rather harshly on her thumb.

Thomas and Gilbert looked up at him when he entered, and his grandfather had a very steely face. "He escaped," was all he said.

Alfred had already figured that out, of course, and he was rather ashamed that he felt relieved for having not found Arthur there. He felt like he was betraying his family for feeling that.

With nothing else to do there, they headed out of the house and walked back to the van. Mary and Matthew regarded them with confusion when they came back, and Thomas only told them what he had said to Alfred, "He escaped."

They all filed back into the van, and Alfred now felt a new sort of fear. Arthur was gone. Arthur was not there anymore. He had no place to go back to now. The only person he grew up with in the same house was nowhere to be found.

Even though he had found his family, Alfred still felt rather scared. Arthur used to be his only source of comfort. And now he was gone.

As they started driving out of the neighborhood, Matthew suddenly said, "What if he went to Francis' house?"

And more than the hope that he felt that Arthur might still be near him, Alfred felt rather angry that Matthew had brought that up.

"Francis?" Mary asked.

Matthew explained Arthur and Alfred's relationship with Francis, all the while Alfred kept silent and refrained from openly glaring at his brother.

At that moment, he wished that he had not brought Matthew to Francis' house. He regretted it especially when Matthew directed their grandfather towards Francis' house. But still, Alfred remained quiet, hoping that Arthur wasn't there, at the same time hoping that he was.

They drove towards Francis' house and did the same thing they had when they had been heading to Arthur's. They parked a few houses away from Francis', reviewed the plan, and Alfred found himself walking behind Thomas' again as Elizaveta and Gilbert took another path. Alfred noticed Gilbert grinning, but he ignored it.

He and his grandfather walked up to the front door and Thomas knocked loudly on the door. They waited but received no answer, and Thomas knocked twice more, both of which went unanswered, before Thomas kicked the door down much like he did at Arthur's.

Thomas rushed inside and started on his search, while Alfred went in at a much slower pace, and headed for the kitchen. One look at the room and Alfred already knew that they weren't there. The kitchen counter was clean with no trace of pastries in the making, no utensils ready to be used, no ingredients to be mixed, no preheated oven. He walked up to the refrigerator and opened the one on the left, and found it empty.

That was really it. They were gone.

* * *

_TBC_

* * *

_A/N: Woot! Off to the Second Half! Personally, I think the First Half is only a really LONG introduction to the story. The Second Half has all the meat in it: the action, more mysteries (if this has ever been mysterious at all), the important people, more drama, THE ROMANCE IS THERE TOO. The rating will definitely be going up. I think there's a lot of questions to be answered regarding what has already been revealed. But eh, I'm not really sure myself._

_Thank you to everyone who has been with the story so far! I hope I'm giving you a good read somehow. I PROMISE THERE WILL BE FLUFF TOO. AND SMUT. So please keep reading!_

_Thank you to those who reviewed: **Shadow's party girl 96**, **ThEgUeSt**, **ThatGirlUnderTheBox**, **Sora Resi**, **avv90**, **Cardfighter By Maple**, **WinterSpirit13**, **Arad D. Hunter**, **FabulousIzaya**, and to all the **Guests**! I noticed that some of you have reviewed multiple chapters, especially __Sora Resi, and I'm very grateful for that! ;u; I do read your reviews (even though I don't reply, I'm sorry) and they make my heart all warm and fuzzy! Thank you so much!_

___Second Half, let's go!_


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